


Never Gonna Leave This Bed

by Paleotoons



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Adult Content, Canon Compliant, Emotional, F/M, First Time, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Love Confessions, Manga Spoilers, Mental Breakdown, Sex, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:29:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 33,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26421160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paleotoons/pseuds/Paleotoons
Summary: Armin thinks it's going to be a night just like any other. One filled with intrusive thoughts and lack of any real sleep. That is until a certain stoic blonde girl enters his room and makes the insomniac's night a little more interesting. And a lot less lonely. Maybe this was something both of them needed?Set between Chapters 131 and 132 of the Manga. Canon-compliant. Contains spoilers.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart
Comments: 58
Kudos: 219





	1. She Will Be Loved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I've been itching to make an Aruani fan fiction for so long now and the most recent chapters of Attack on Titan finally gave me the opportunity to do so. And of course it's a smut fic lol. I'm sorry, there's just so much sexual tension between the characters, Armin and Annie especially, that I couldn't resist. Hopefully most of you reading this will agree with me and enjoy my writing haha. Not much mature content in this chapter but the next one will most certainly satisfy everyone's thirst. Until then, please enjoy the buildup and overview of my interpretation of Armin and Annie's relationship up until this point.

Armin Arlert figured he should really be used to this by now. Lie down in his somewhat uncomfortable cot, close his eyes, be invaded by intrusive thoughts about anything and everything that kept him awake until late into the night, toss and turn trying to shut his brain off, and maybe catch a few hours of rest if he was lucky. It was basically routine at this point, he couldn’t even really remember the last time he got a decent night’s sleep. 

Even before Eren had gone rogue and started The Rumbling, the brainiac had been plagued by his own anxiety for years and he was getting fed up with it. Thankfully he was usually able to put a brave face on and smile through the fatigue to not worry his friends. After all, he had to be strong for them since they needed his sharp wit and ability to come up with ingenious plans at the snap of a finger. But lately it was getting harder to keep this little charade against himself up.

This night was even worse than usual. Armin was already exhausted by 8 P.M. and had tried passing out in his room at around that time, hoping that perhaps by getting to bed early he’d actually get the recommended amount of sleep for a normal human being. Unfortunately, Armin Arlert was in fact not a normal human being. Not even on a physiological level thanks to his Titan inheritance.

Once again he was betrayed by his own mind. He was invaded with relentless thoughts and visions about as soon as he'd closed his eyes. “Please. Just let me get some sleep for one night. _Please_!” the blond soldier begged to himself as he covered his face with his slightly lumpy pillow. But his psyche ignored his pleas as it replayed memories in front of him like he was a prisoner of his own head, forced to relive the sins that led him to this point.

When Armin had entered his room that evening the sun hadn’t even set yet, but hours must have passed by now because it was long past dark outside, and all he could do was groan to himself. The young man knew exactly why this night was being particularly difficult for him. There were two reasons to be precise. Firstly, he was haunted by the sight of Eren Jaeger in that ethereal realm known as a “Path” that connected him to his lifelong best friend.

Well, whether he and Eren were actually friends anymore was debatable, but that was how he would always remember him. It was especially easy to remember him as such in this case because the Eren he saw in the Path was the passionate child he grew up alongside and not the depressed, hopeless man Eren had become over the years. The same man that had insulted both him and their other lifelong friend, Mikasa Ackerman, at a restaurant only a few days ago but felt like centuries at this point.

The blond Shiganshina teen's fist clenched as he relived that memory, more mad at how Eren treated Mikasa than himself. How dare Eren talk that way to the girl who has stuck by his side more than anyone else even at his lowest and darkest points? Thankfully this angry recollection was washed away as more thoughts crept into his consciousness.

Armin knew that Eren had seen him in the Path, because they had locked eyes with each other for a mere second right before the blond Eldian was snapped back into reality. Perhaps the most disturbing thing Armin saw was just how happy Eren looked despite the atrocities his physical self was doing to innocent people all around the world.

Was it because in his mind Eren truly believed he was doing the right thing? Could it be because he was subconsciously blocking himself from the horrors he was committing? Was he too caught up in his own “freedom” to fully comprehend what he was doing? Maybe it was a combination of all these scenarios? 

Whatever the reason, Armin didn’t find any of them excusable, and wished he hadn’t been suddenly thrust into this realm by no will of his own. The blond then pondered the idea that Eren had accidentally brought him into the Path because he truly did want or expect Armin to be there with him when he finally experienced what freedom was like. He didn’t know whether to be flattered or disgusted by his own suggestion. This was in no way how he wanted freedom to be accomplished for anybody.

Eventually, these thoughts ebbed away and were replaced by the second, more pleasant yet still anxious thoughts that kept Armin awake tonight. They involved a certain someone that he had been thinking about more and more in a rather infatuated fashion as of late. This person could be none other than one Annie Leonhart. The small but fierce and aloof blonde girl had always captured his attention even during their trainee days.

For a reason that even today Armin wasn't entirely sure of, the curious cadet had felt compelled to chip away at the icy wall Annie had built around herself back then. It wasn't easy, but through his persistence, he eventually managed to get closer to the unsociable girl than anyone else, and had even gotten her to open up to him to some extent. Armin couldn’t believe how someone as petite as Annie could be such a powerful fighter. She made everything she did look so effortless and it inspired him to train harder just so he could keep up with her in some capacity, even though he knew he'd only be able to do so in his dreams.

Armin had previously prided himself in always being right, but when he first realized that Annie was not only a traitor but the Female Titan herself, he had never wanted to be so wrong in his entire life. He refused to believe that a close friend of his that he admired so much was capable of betraying him and the rest of their friends and murdering people in cold blood like this. Betraying her in return was probably one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do, right up there with having to kill hundreds of innocent Marleyan citizens in his Colossal Titan form. 

Not long after Annie had crystallized herself, the blond boy had made it a routine to sneak into where she was being held captive and talk to her. He had no idea if she was able to hear him or not but he didn’t care. She had always been someone he could open up to, and honestly, she was usually pretty silent when they hung out anyway, so this new setup wasn’t all _that_ different from what they previously had.

As he lied there in his bed, Armin felt the corners of his mouth curl upwards slightly as he remembered the first time he was caught visiting Annie’s crystal. It was actually Commander Hange Zoe who had unexpectedly barged into the dungeon room one day and caught the blond boy completely by surprise. He had been previously sharing lemon tea and donuts (Annie’s favorite) with the crystallized girl while reading a chapter from this new book he'd picked up, but nearly spilled his refreshments at the sight of his commanding officer.

Armin had let out an embarrassingly girly yelp as his face blushed a fierce crimson. He tried saluting to Hange with what little dignity he had left while the brunette stifled her laughter. “So, I see you’ve been keeping Miss Leonhart company, eh cadet?”

“I-I… Well not exactly, Commander. I was just…” as quick-witted as Armin typically was, he wasn’t the best at coming up with lies on the spot, and it wasn’t long before he crumbled in defeat under Hange’s smirk and raised eyebrow.

“I was just on my way to check up on Miss Leonhart and potentially study her crystal, but I see you’ve already beaten me to it,” she teased again, gesturing towards the open page in Armin's sketchbook that depicted a picture of Annie's crystal along with some notes that the meticulous boy had written down.

Somehow Armin was able to blush an even deeper shade of red than before as he stuttered out the truth. “W-well, I-I had been taking some notes on Annie’s crystal, b-but truthfully I had mostly come here j-just to see… her.”

Hange smiled understandingly as she approached the young blond and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It’s completely understandable, Arlert. I recall several instances where you had brought up Miss Leonhart in a rather admirable light before all this Female Titan nonsense came about. It seems like you two were quite close.”

Armin’s blush dissipated a bit as he nodded, his face cast down slightly. “We were. I just feel so guilty that I had to betray her the way I did, and I hoped that maybe by visiting her so she wasn’t always alone it would ease my own conscience a bit.” He lightly chuckled to himself in a rather sad tone. “It probably sounds crazy to you. I wouldn’t blame you at all if that was the case.”

Instead of being disparaged like he expected from his superior, the young soldier instead felt his chin be risen up until he was looking Hange directly into her glasses. The small tears that Armin didn’t realize were brimming the corners of his eyes were wiped away by his Commander's caring and surprisingly tough hand. “We all handle our grief in different ways, cadet,” the spectacle-wearing soldier told her subordinate. “If this is what you think you need to do in order to feel better, you won’t be seeing any judgement from me.”

Armin couldn’t have been more grateful to Hange in that moment. A small smile crept across his face as he whispered his thanks to her. The Survey soldiers then looked back at Annie, who slept away peacefully in her crystal tomb.

Both of them knew that at any moment, she could break free and wreak havoc on the town, but Armin refused to think about that. He simply wanted to spend time with one of his best friends again and wished she would just emerge already. The coconut-haired boy’s face then blanched for a split second as he realized something. “Please don’t tell Captain Levi about this!” he begged Hange as he gripped the sleeves of her uniform desperately. Armin didn't even want to _think_ about what would happen if Levi found out he'd been talking with the person who killed most of his squad, even if she couldn't respond.

The brunette only laughed as she repositioned herself above the quivering cadet. “Don’t worry, Arlert. Shorty doesn’t need to know about this. Though I really should punish you for sneaking into the dungeon without permission,” she mused to herself as Armin continuously paled. “When did you start these little escapades, anyway?”

There was no point in lying now, so the well-meaning delinquent truthfully muttered, “About a week after she was brought down here.”

Truth be told, Hange was rather impressed with Armin’s ability to both find where Annie was being held _and_ figure out how to sneak in without being seen until now. She knew he’d continue to be a valuable asset in the field as time went on, but right now, she needed to focus on what to do with him.

“Well, I suppose we do need someone to consistently look after Miss Leonhart when we’re not on duty since she could wake up at any time,” she grinned knowingly at Armin who perked up at his Commander’s suggestion. “I think you’re more than qualified for the job, Arlert. But, you’d have to be diligent and make sure to report to us the second any disturbances are noticed. It can’t just be play dates and teatime with her. You got it?”

“Absolutely, Commander Hange!” Armin saluted, grateful for the second time that day.

“Alright, cadet. I’ll get the papers signed for your new position as soon as possible.” Hange then turned to leave. “Oh, and just one more thing.”

“Yes, Commander?”

“Make sure you clean up after yourself, okay? We don’t want your girlfriend to potentially wake up to a mess of spilled tea and donuts, do we?” she smirked deviously at the flaring blush that returned on Armin’s face before stepping out the door.

Armin did indeed take his new duty very seriously. He visited Annie, now officially, every night that he wasn’t on call for duty, and he’d always let her know when he was going to be gone for a while so she wouldn’t worry. What he did with her changed depending on the day or what he was in the mood for. Most of the time he’d catch Annie up on events that had been going on and what all of their friends and comrades were up to, but sometimes he would bring in a new book he’d found and read the latest chapters, other days he’d talk to her about his past life and his family, and occasionally he’d even confide to her how he was feeling, whether it be content, depressed, anxious or lonesome.

Whatever the day, however, he would always talk to her. It was comforting to have someone he could vent to that wouldn’t tell him to get over it or coddle him overbearingly, and he liked to think Annie enjoyed having him there as well. He was glad when he found out earlier today that it was indeed how she felt.

Ironically, even though Annie couldn’t actually respond to him, his attachment and appreciation for her presence grew over time, and talking to her would usually end up being the highlight of his day. Sometimes it didn’t even feel like she couldn’t actually hold a conversation with him. He was sure if his friends knew about this double life Armin had that they'd either make fun of him or reprimand him, but he honestly didn't care. This girl just meant that much to him that he'd continue to keep her company even if they didn't support him, and it was honestly a bit of a thrill doing something in secret that no one else really knew about.

After the young soldier had eaten Bertholdt Hoover and inherited the power of the Colossal Titan, Annie was the first person Armin came to see. “I guess we’re even more connected now, huh Annie?” he asked rhetorically as he placed his hand over the blonde girl’s crystal right in front of her face. “I could see through Bert’s memories that you weren’t exactly close to him, but you did grow up together and I’m sorry I had to eat him,” he said solemnly. “I just wanted to let you know that he always really admired you. Even though he was a traitor, I feel like I owe him that much.” The blond’s hand slid down the smooth transparent surface as he looked into Annie’s closed eyes.

He had always thought she was physically attractive, probably more than most people did, but after Bertholdt’s memories gave him a clearer picture of what the fierce blonde was like growing up and what all she went through in that time, Armin couldn’t help but be even more enamored with Annie than before. He decided to take this time now to really inspect her features.

Her eyelashes were long and a darker brown than her platinum blonde hair, which looked smooth as silk. Although they were closed, Armin always felt like he could get lost in the intense yet beautiful icy blue orbs that were her eyes. Annie’s lips were a pinker shade than the rest of her complexion and were ever so slightly pursed, making them probably the softest and most delicate-looking features on her face. Her cheekbones were defined and slanted, giving them a strong yet still feminine appearance that complimented her face perfectly. 

Even though most of the boys in their cohort had made fun of her behind her back for it (since they'd never do so in her face if they wanted their bodies to remain intact), Armin always thought Annie’s pronounced nose was strong-looking and made her stand out in a good way among the other somewhat bland-looking girls in their training course. Her limbs were lean but he knew firsthand how much muscle there was underneath those sleeves, and her arms ended in hands that looked small and dainty yet could probably crush a man’s windpipe if she wanted them to.

Although it was usually hidden under her trademark hoodie, Armin was lucky enough to see the blonde girl without the obstructive article of clothing a few times to witness the surprisingly shapely figure she typically concealed from everybody. Her abdomen was unsurprisingly very well defined with muscle that would make most men jealous and, although perhaps not as much as other girls, she was also somewhat blessed in the chest area from what Armin could tell. Her hips were formed in a nearly perfect hourglass shape and the thought of what she could do with them had left Armin a flustered mess and stiff in a certain place more times than he’d like to admit. 

Overall, although maybe not as conventionally attractive as girls like Mikasa, Armin had to say that Annie was quite possibly the most gorgeous girl he’d ever had the privilege to lay eyes on, and what pained him was that she probably didn’t even realize how beautiful she was. He then proceeded to place his forehead on the crystal where her own would be and whispered, “Please come out soon. There’s so much I wish I could tell you in person.”

As time went on and the war, along with his best friends, became increasingly harder to deal with, Annie became more and more of a supportive constant in Armin’s life despite not even being able to respond to him. What's more is that the now young man felt himself inadvertently developing stronger feelings for the crystallized girl as he matured.

At first he thought it was simple infatuation, but he eventually realized it was more than that after months had passed and he still wasn’t able to get her out of his head. It got to the point where he wasn’t even able to focus on what his commands were and often needed Mikasa to repeat what Levi or Hange had said to him. 

In a way he found it a bit pathetic that he was in love with someone who was basically an inanimate object for the last few years. And yes, he _could_ admit he was in love, because unlike _certain people_ in his life he shall not name, he wasn’t unaware of his own feelings. Honestly though, Armin really couldn’t care less. He knew Annie better than anyone and he knew what he wanted even if it did seem foolish.

He also hoped above all else that he wasn't just projecting what he wants in a romantic partner onto Annie, because he knew she was very much her own person, but he was pretty sure this wasn't the case. His feelings for the Annie felt genuine as far as he could tell. The blond could only hope that the person he believed to be girl of his dreams would reawaken before Ymir’s Curse took hold of her and it was too late to ever see her alive again.

Because he had to be on duty elsewhere more frequently after Commander Erwin Smith had passed away, Armin was unfortunately not able to visit Annie quite as much as he used to, even though he always made sure to see her when he could. Somewhat annoyingly, because he couldn’t watch over Annie as often it meant he now had to share this duty with her former roommate Hitch Dreyse. 

She was a talkative and at times obnoxious girl, but she was sweet and understanding too, and whenever he saw her, Armin couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. She had lost Annie as a friend due to her betrayal, and then lost her lover in Marlowe Freudenberg after he’d transferred to the Survey Corps and sacrificed himself alongside Erwin. So for that reason alone he tolerated her presence whenever she was around.

But to say Armin was mortified when Hitch caught him trying to stroke Annie’s crystal was an understatement. Thankfully she had seemed to be understanding, and aside from some slight teasing about his crush on Annie (seriously how was it that obvious?), she seemed to not take him breaking the rules very seriously, which he appreciated. If anything, Hitch had always seemed supportive of him and Annie being together.

At one point she had even confided to Armin that she had remembered catching Annie reading the letters he'd sent her, and then noted that she'd blushed about as hard as he was in that moment. He was still grateful that Hitch was there for Annie when he couldn’t be after she'd finally awoken, and then risked her rank by bringing her to the rest of the gang to help stop Eren.

When Armin finally saw Annie in the flesh again, he had never felt such a blend of happiness and shock in all his life. After Connie had embarrassed her about how she ate the pie (which Armin admittedly found to be really cute) and her fellow blond had explained to her what they planned to do, she had very quickly agreed to help them. All she requested was a pen and a piece of paper to let Hitch know where she was going.

Armin wondered if Annie would have even agreed to help them if anyone else had asked her, especially after she told him about her father and how her only wish was to get home to him safely. Armin didn’t want to sound too proud, but she honestly seemed to only agree to come along with everyone because _he_ was involved, sorta like that cooking competition with their fellow 104th comrade Jean Kirstein all those years ago. The newly freed girl didn’t talk to anybody else the rest of the day, not even to Armin, but simply having her riding right beside him as they headed to their next destination filled the young man with more joy than he’d felt in years.

However, there was one thing involving Annie that still haunted him. To this day, Armin had no idea whether the Marleyan girl has forgiven him for betraying her trust, and the guilt of it was often the reason why he was kept up at night. Tonight was no different in that regard.

Sure, they’d had that heartfelt discussion on the bow of the ship where she’d expressed her gratitude to him for visiting her while she was trapped in her crystal, but she never explicitly stated that she’d forgiven him. He couldn’t describe what a relief it was to finally have a deep conversation with Annie and confess his feelings for her after all these years of only one-sided banter, but her response, although somewhat hopeful for him, wasn’t quite what he wanted to hear.

But he also understood why she would feel the way she does. It’s not like she was truly aware of how he felt before all this, and Armin would be very surprised if Annie ever really felt this way about anyone herself considering the harsh life she grew up in.

Not to mention she'd just suffered a bit of a breakdown earlier that day after nearly dying to the Jaegerists and finding out that her father and hometown were probably gone. The blond young man didn’t want to pressure the broken girl into anything she felt uncomfortable with.

Shortly after a stray seagull had landed next to them, Connie Springer had emerged from the bunkers and told the two blondes that Hange was requesting everyone to convene for strategy discussion. After exchanging a look with each other, Armin and Annie stood up and followed their balding friend to where everyone else was located.

Unfortunately no one was able to come up with anything meaningful to stop Eren, not even Armin. He mostly stayed quiet in the back next to Annie, who would occasionally look up at him with some sign of concern in her gaze. It was pretty clear he had a lot on his mind in that moment and couldn’t think clearly.

Eventually Levi called the meeting off, telling everybody to get some rest and expect to pick up where they left off in the morning, to everyone’s relief. Everyone that is, except the blond strategist himself, who knew he probably wasn’t going to be getting much sleep tonight anyway.

He didn’t know why he was reliving these memories when he should be focusing more on trying to get some sleep so he could actually be useful to his friends tomorrow. He knew they were all counting on him. But he just couldn’t stop thinking about Eren, how worried he was for his friends, especially Mikasa, how the world was suffering from the Rumbling, and, of course, he couldn’t stop thinking about Annie. She had always been the subject of most of his waking and even restful thoughts, including some admittedly less than chaste ones.

Armin wasn’t proud to admit it, but over the years his urges had become harder and harder to control. He would often either wake up suddenly with his sheets all wet, sticky and reeking of mushrooms, or he would more regularly need to make private time for himself in the restroom just to relieve the tension he felt in his pants. Usually whenever he had a wet dream or would rub himself off, he would think about Annie, and it honestly disgusted himself that he thought of her like that. 

He had always viewed himself as above carnal instincts such as these. For Ymir’s sake her father was probably dead and she’d spent her whole life isolated and emotionally repressed, he should probably be feeling more sympathy for her than he already does rather than any horniness towards her. But as he matured so did his hormones, and he just couldn’t resist them any longer. He supposed it was only natural, but that didn’t make him feel any less guilty about giving in to it.

Thankfully tonight he was too exhausted to worry about that and instead simply rolled over onto his back to stare at the ceiling, hoping that eventually sleep would overtake him and his intrusive thoughts. The night, however, apparently had other plans for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And our little quick fic has officially begun! Bet you can guess what'll happen in the next chapter to some degree. ;) Thanks for checking this out and I hope to see you all as the story progresses!


	2. It Was Always You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! Not gonna hold you up too long this time, just wanted to let you guys know I appreciate everyone who's checked this story out and left Kudos. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I hope you all enjoy reading it. Also for those wondering, yes I did name this story and the chapters after Maroon 5 songs. I associate so many of their musical pieces with Aruani anyway so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to reference them here. Anyway, back to what Armin and Annie are up to.

Any drowsiness Armin might’ve had was whooshed away when he was startled by a foreign sound echoing into his room. The sleepless Scout snapped his head around to look at the sight of his door knob being turned followed by the door itself slowly being opened. The insomniac blond quickly shut his eyes as far as they could go while still being able to see who was standing in his doorway. The figure was nearly blinded out by the light shining behind them and his squinted eyes, but he was able to make out a small but shapely frame wearing a nightgown and shoulder-length hair coming from their head.

Armin felt his heart pick up in speed as he hoped who he thought it was at the foot of his door. He shut his eyes completely and waited to see what the figure would do. Said person simply stood at the entrance for what was likely only a minute or two but to Armin felt like an eternity. It was as if they were contemplating just what to do now that they’d come this far. Eventually he heard a feminine huff and footsteps make their way towards his bed.

Before he knew what was happening, Armin felt his bedsheets lifted and a lean figure crawl into bed and snuggle itself up to him. The stranger embraced him in a tight but comforting hug as if they were desperately trying to keep the teenage strategist from disappearing into thin air. He recognized the feel of this person almost immediately, but he allowed himself to open his eyes to confirm his prediction. He looked down at the mass of messy blonde hair that was buried into his shoulder and his mouth went agape almost immediately. 

“Annie?” he whispered in a surprised but reassuring tone. The head underneath his own only nodded in return, causing the blond teen’s stomach to start doing backflips. He must be dreaming, he figured. There’s no way this was actually happening right now. Armin didn’t dare move a muscle and potentially awaken from this dream or stir Annie away.

The two simply stayed like that for a few minutes before Armin found his voice again and questioned, “Are you okay?” The formerly crystallized girl lifted her head and looked into his eyes with her own. Even when half-lidded, her orbits reflected the moonlight coming through the window so wondrously that Armin was afraid he’d go blind.

“No, I’m pretty damn fine from okay, Arlert,” the stoic girl responded in her typical blunt fashion, causing the young man holding her to smile slightly. That was the old Annie he knew.

“You mind me asking why you came into my room and crawled into bed with me, then?” Armin inquired.

The young woman in his arms went silent again for a moment, but eventually she figured she at least owed him an explanation for suddenly barging into his room. Besides, Armin had always been someone she could open up to at least somewhat. So she quietly answered, “I couldn’t sleep.”

Armin nodded understandingly. “Me too,” he admitted to his fellow insomniac.

“I’m scared, Armin,” Annie confided to her friend. This caused the young soldier’s eyes to widen. He had never seen Annie scared in his life, not even when she was cornered by Survey soldiers after he led her to their trap. “I don’t know if we can defeat Eren, I don’t know how anyone here feels about me... I just don’t know about anything anymore. I’ve never felt so hopeless in my life. You’re the only person in the world I can trust right now.”

Armin’s heart sank at this. He never exactly thought of Annie as an optimist, but hearing her confess to him the all insecurities she was feeling about herself, the big and the small, made him realize just how lost she felt in this whole situation. He completely understood why she’d feel this way. She had never asked for any of this. She had simply wanted to return to her father and lead a humble life with him, but there was no way in Hell she was going to get the chance to do that now. She was stuck on a boat in the middle of the ocean surrounded by people she didn't know whether to consider allies or enemies while the end of the world was literally going on, and all Armin could do was continue holding her as comfortingly as he could.

“I wish there was more I could do for you right now than say I’m sorry, Annie,” the blond consoled as he rubbed his crush’s upper arm in a warm manner. The warrior girl only tucked her head back into her solace’s shoulder and let out a strained breath.

He felt the fabric of his shirt tugged on as her thin hands gripped it tightly. “I’m so pathetic, Armin,” he heard her voice hitch ever so slightly. “I couldn’t even complete the one mission I’d been training for my entire life and now I’m never going to see the only family I’ve ever had again. I’m such a failure.”

That was when Armin felt moisture collect on his shirt and he realized that Annie had started crying, so overwhelmed with emotion from her inner demons. Tears threatened to spill from his own eyes at this point. He was so used to seeing the young woman always so stoic and resilient, it didn’t feel right for her to look so frail and emotional like this.

“That’s not true at all, Annie,” he retorted. “You’re one of the farthest people I know from a failure. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known.”

“Stop lying,” the blonde’s muffled voice responded harshly.

“No, it’s true!” he insisted. “Annie, you’re amazing. There isn’t anyone here who’s as good at fighting as you and you’re so quick-witted and adaptable to any situation you’re in that I genuinely believe there isn’t anything you can’t do.” Annie didn’t respond apart from a small sniffle so he continued. “I’m so grateful you’re here with us, we’d have no chance of stopping Eren without your help.”

The blonde looked up at him with watery yet slightly hopeful blue eyes and quietly responded, “How do you know I won’t fail at this just like everything else in my life?”

Armin only smiled at her sadly. He brushed a strand of golden hair out of the view of those beautiful icy blue eyes to get a proper look at her gorgeous face. “Because you’re not nearly as much of a failure as you seem to think you are. You successfully made your way to us and defended everyone from enemy attacks, you managed to be open minded and see the error of your ways, and you were able to make me fall for you.”

Both blondes stared wide-eyed at each other after that last phrase fell out of Armin’s mouth. Had he just said that out loud? A blush very quickly spread across his features as he embarrassingly looked away. “I-I mean, not that it would be very hard for s-someone like you to make somebody f-fall for you, that is. Y-you’re more than capable of landing any guy you c-could possibly want,” he stuttered rather pathetically, trying to somehow pull himself out of the hole he’d dug himself into.

Annie then proceeded to painfully flick her finger into his forehead, earning her a yelp in response. After successfully shutting her blabbering friend up, she sank back into his torso and somehow gripped the hem of his shirt even tighter. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better, Arlert.”

“No I’m not. Annie… you’re beautiful.”

“How could anyone possibly think that about me?” The girl started trembling in his arms, whether it was out of anger or sadness Armin couldn’t quite tell, but he continued to hold her steadfast against him anyway. “I don’t have nearly as feminine of features as most other girls and I’m way too standoffish for any regular guy to approach me and get to know me better. No one’s ever thought of me as a woman, just a loner freak who’d probably snap at them if they got too close. Not that I blame them. I don’t deserve to be adored by anyone, anyway. Especially not you.”

The young man was shocked again for the second time that night. “Annie, I told you, I’m not-”

“Just shut up,” Annie cut him off before he could protest. “I don’t care how terrible you might think you are, you’re a saint compared to me and definitely too good for me. Hell, you’re probably too good for anyone in this messed up world.” Armin couldn’t bring himself to agree but it did warm his heart slightly to know that the woman he had feelings for thought of him in such high regard. “I have no idea why you’re so infatuated with _me_ of all people. I’ve been nothing but cold to you. And your feelings for me make me question whether you truly are as smart as I thought you were. I mean, fuck Arlert, any girl would be lucky enough to end up with you. I know how you’d be, you’d probably always dote over her, do whatever you could to make her happy, and certainly wouldn’t ever mistreat her.”

Annie felt a gentle hand cusp her chin and lift her face back up to the ocean blue eyes of Armin Arlert. The intensity of his gaze made the blonde girl blush lightly, and she hoped he wasn’t able to see it in this dim lighting. “And what if that girl you’re referring to turned out to be you?” A soft yet firm thumb stroked Annie’s cheek and wiped away a tear that she didn’t realize had fallen.

Damn, how could he be so smooth like that out of the blue? Annie averted her gaze as best she could, though she somehow didn’t feel strong enough to move her head from the young man’s gentle grasp on her jawline. “It’s a much better fate than I deserve.”

“No it isn’t,” Armin retorted. “Everyone deserves their happy ending.”

“Now you’re just being naive,” Annie argued.

“It’s the ending _you_ deserve. I know all that you've been through, and finding someone who treats you the way you should be treated is the least that you’ve earned for enduring so much.”

Annie hated that she was feeling tears pricking at her eyes again. How did he have this effect on her? “Seriously, what is it about me that draws you to me so much?”

“It’d be easier to list the things I _don’t_ find attractive about you,” Armin chuckled lightly, causing the young blonde’s stomach to flutter. What was this feeling building inside of her? “I’ve been looking at your angelic features for nearly four years now, so believe me when I say that you have some of the most alluring attributes of any woman I’ve ever seen.”

Now the flustered girl was certain this newly confident nerd could see her furious blush. “Like what?” she challenged. Of course Armin answered as if he’d been reciting this in his head for years. Though truth be told, Annie supposed, he probably had been doing just that.

“Well for one, your facial structure is unmatched by anyone I’ve seen or read about, your golden hair falls over your head like the reflection of an angel’s halo, your nose stands proud amongst your features and gives you a defining look I admire to no end, you have an incredibly shaped body I’d take Eren on just to get the privilege to look at, you have more determination and tenacity than anyone I’ve ever met, you have a deceptively big heart, you’re impressively cunning and smart, and you have eyes I could stare into for days.”

“Is that all?” Annie questioned as she curled back up into Armin’s neck to hide the increasing redness on her face. Despite the teen embarrassing her so much, his body was comforting to her. And he smelled nice too, like a mix of old books, the Earth after a rainy day and the slightest hint of warm butter.

Seeing the usually stern woman he admired so much act so shy made Armin beam with pride, he loved bringing out Annie’s soft side like this. Unfortunately for her, he in fact was not finished. He once again lifted her head back to his line of sight and said, “No, there’s one other thing about you I’ve been looking at for years and could only experience in my dreams.”

“And what might that be?”

“Your lips. They’re an adorable pink color and puff out slightly. They always looked so soft and tender to me, and wondering how it would feel to press my own against them has kept me awake at night on more than one occasion.”

Annie felt like she was about to lose her goddamn mind. Of course she had been attracted to Armin in some capacity for quite a few years now, but she had never felt absolutely floored in affection like this before. Were their faces moving closer together? “And what if I told you that I’ve thought the same about you?” she asked as her eyelids started to droop.

“Then I suppose I’d ask if you wanted to find out if we’re both right together.” Annie couldn’t take it anymore. This boy, no… this _man_ , had stood by her side, keeping her company for nearly four years while her yearning for him only grew, and god dammit she was not about to wait any longer.

She grabbed Armin’s collar and pulled his body towards hers to mesh her lips against his surprisingly soft ones, as if she was trying to steal the breath straight from his lungs. After a short “Mph!” from the golden-haired teen, he swiftly returned the kiss tenfold. God this felt so right, it was as if everything in her life had led to this exact moment and she was so grateful to herself that she’d decided to come to him tonight for consoling. He really did always know what to do.

Before long they had to retract for air. They stared at each other for some extended seconds, just panting and drinking in their respective crush’s facial expressions. Both now dawned fearsome blushes across their faces and their eyes shone with something lustful and hungry. “Wow,” Armin finally managed to breathe out after processing what had just happened.

“Yeah,” was all Annie could say in return.

Both blondes looked away again, not sure what to say or do next. “ _No_ ,” Armin told himself internally. “ _We’ve come too far and waited too long to stop now. I can tell we both want more_.” He then grabbed Annie’s face somewhat forcefully, brought it back to his gaze and fervently kissed her again, more desperately this time, and she responded in kind.

It truly was surreal, Annie’s lips were impossibly plush and he wanted to explore her and be as close to her as he physically could. Both sitting now, Armin pulled the lean girl onto his lap and pressed her torso as closely to his as possible, one hand behind her head and the other pushing against the small of her back. Annie once again returned the favor as both her arms wrapped under his, pressing his upper back into her.

It wasn’t long before things started to get more heated between them. It began with Armin’s tongue requesting permission to enter Annie’s mouth, and she answered by parting her lips so he could taste the inside of it in greater detail. Of course she wasn’t going to let him do this alone, her tongue countered his by trying to wrap around it as much as she could. Her saliva mixing with his was like a drug to her and she never wanted to get off this high.

When they had to part for oxygen again it was too soon. Each was transfixed in the other’s eyes once blue met blue. The only thing Armin could do in that moment was smile brightly, causing Annie to internally melt. His smile was always so reassuring, it was as if he could convince her everything was alright in the world. That was when the emotions kicked in for her again.

Before the blond member of the Survey Corps could react to anything else, he felt Annie cling to him like a lost child to their mother and begin to sob. This made him confused and worried. Had he done something wrong? Did he pressure her too much? Oh god, he didn’t want to lose her again already. But wait, why would she have embraced him like this if that was the case? He decided to stop thinking so much and instead complied with what his heart was screaming at him to do, which was to hug her back tightly. Armin stroked her back soothingly and kissed the top of her head, her soft hair tickling his lip a little in the process.

“Annie, what’s wrong?” he asked her.

“Please don’t ever leave me,” he heard her choke through her sobs. Armin’s blue eyes widened in response to this, he was not expecting this reaction from his crush at all. “I already lost my father. I don’t want to lose the only other person in this cruel world that I care about, too.”

The sympathetic blond simply tightened his grip on the trembling woman in his arms, trying to be as comforting as he could. Not just because he was in love with her, Armin was simply that type of person. “Are you kidding? I’m not going anywhere. No Titan alive could tear me away from you now.” At this reassuring statement Annie sobbed harder. God he was so perfect, how was she so lucky to have someone like him in her life? 

They remained embraced like this until the blonde girl’s sobs turned to hushed hiccups. She needed that cry, she couldn’t remember the last time she had been so vulnerable, and she was grateful she could finally release her emotions in front of someone like Armin and not somebody else. He just gave off that type of trusting, comforting aura to her. 

“I’m sorry to have bothered you tonight,” the still emotional girl stated once she felt coherent enough to speak again.

”No, please don’t be, Annie,” Armin returned kindly. “I’m always happy to be there for you, always have been. I know you had a hard day.”

”That’s the understatement of the year.” Annie countered with playful mire.

The Eldian boy hum-laughed in response. “Yep, I suppose that’s true,” he surmised with a knowing smile on his lips. Quiet fell between them again for a while, each teenager simply enjoying the sound of the others’ breathing.

“So, was that your first kiss, Arlert?” Annie abruptly asked her newfound lover after some time in shared silence had passed.

She felt the blond young man startle a little and grinned to herself. Flustering him was quickly becoming one of her new favorite hobbies. “Erm, well… Yeah…” he admitted.

“So you’ve been saving yourself for me then? God you’re hopeless,” Annie teased playfully. “You didn’t even know if I’d ever come out of that crystal. I could’ve easily stayed in there until you or I died and you would have lived your entire life without ever experiencing the touch of a woman.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault no other girl could enrapture me the way you do, Miss Leonhart,” Armin complimented in a similar fashion. “Besides, I know for a fact that was your first kiss, too.”

She simply shrugged into his torso. “Guess you could say I was saving it for the right guy. I honestly never expected I’d ever have the pleasure of meeting him though,” she confessed.

“Glad I could throw a wrench into the fate you resigned yourself to then,” the Scout quipped proudly.

Annie could only huff lightheartedly at his boastfulness. “Seriously though, for your first time that was pretty good. Where did you learn to kiss like that?”

“Well…” Did he really want to answer this? “Um… it was in a book I read.”

“... Seriously Arlert? A book?”

“... Yes?”

“Should I even ask why you were reading a book about this topic?” Annie asked rhetorically as she brought her hand over her face and shook her head. She couldn’t say she was all that surprised nor ungrateful for him doing so, however.

“Hey, a boy only has so much he can do when he’s got teenage hormones ransacking his body,” Armin answered as a light blush adorned his face for the umpteenth time that night. Annie found it unbearably cute when he pouted like that. “Besides, that’s not the only thing I read about.”

“Oh really? And just what else did you research involving all this mushy stuff?” Annie nudged, hoping this would lead where she wanted it to.

“How about I show you?” the blond offered instead, taking Annie’s face and kissing her again as passionately as he had before. As if she was expecting him to respond this way, the young blonde wrapped her arms over Armin’s shoulders and deepened the kiss further. As she did so, the Survey soldier felt more tears fall from her cheeks and his sympathy for her heightened even greater than before. She was broken, and he would do anything in his power to help fix her in any way he could.

The blond genius figured this was the perfect time to put his research to work. His hands started curiously traveling over her body, across her back, waist, thighs and even her tummy, testing where she was most receptive to his touch. This would earn him a light moan in response from her whenever he was able to find a particularly sensitive spot, and he made sure to focus on those areas especially.

By now both of them, Annie especially, were gasping and moaning much more regularly, with their breaks for air becoming increasingly sparse. Suddenly Armin felt his crush tighten the straddling grip her legs had around his waist and start grinding her muscular hips subtly into his lap. He could already feel the first signs of his hard on growing painfully. Shit, this was embarrassing. He initially prayed that Annie didn’t notice, but as she began to grind harder, he realized she probably did and it was exactly what she wanted.

This was all the motivation he needed. The horned male didn’t see any point in trying to hide it now, he’d been suppressing himself for way too long and he was too far gone to resist giving in. He moaned into Annie’s mouth as she gripped his shoulder blades tighter and he started gyrating his hips in turn with her own.

Feeling a bit more daring, Armin decided to let his right hand wander underneath Annie’s nightgown and travel up her thigh. That was the moment the young man stopped dead in his tracks. The whole path up to her hips had only been skin, no undergarment fabric of any kind had been felt that whole time. That meant Annie was wearing literally _nothing_ underneath this single article of clothing. 

He was _this_ close to having the woman of his dreams naked with him this whole time? And in his own bed? Holy shit. When Armin had come into his room he hadn’t even bothered taking anything off aside from his shoes and just flopped into bed. He didn’t even think to realize she had completely prepped herself to go to sleep like this.

Thankfully, Armin quickly recovered from his split second fluster before Annie seemed to notice. He decided to use this newfound knowledge to heighten his drive and relieve the sexual tension that had been plaguing both blondes for years. Since Annie didn't seem to resist Armin's advances, the teen growled huskily as his hand made his way even farther up her nightgown, past her stomach, over her ribcage, until he found what he was looking for.

It didn’t take long for Armin to find Annie’s left breast, and when he did he squeezed it with as much fervency as he could. The girl in his lap gasped vocally and lulled her head back as Armin continued to knead the soft mound of sensitive flesh with increased passion. Once Annie’s moans reached a certain level of volume and consistency, the blond young man decided now would be the perfect time to go in for the kill.

With his left hand still holding the back of her head steady, Armin’s mouth dove for her exposed neck while the fingers on his right hand took a strong hold of the erect nipple on the boob he’d been squeezing. Annie nearly screamed at the sudden unexpected burst of pleasure, her jaw clenching as Armin licked and sucked on the skin of her neck. She could feel her nipple tingle and throb as he sadistically pinched and twisted the sensitive piece of flesh on her chest, and it was starting to become overbearing.

Annie could feel the area between her legs start to drip with lust as the Eldian boy holding her played with her body like an expert pianist. Part of her loved it, but a larger part of her was becoming more and more scared of this stimulation. She wasn’t used to this type of touch. Suddenly the usually composed girl felt like she was suffocating and started to panic. She didn’t want to end this but these new sensations were becoming too much for her to handle.

“Armin, stop!” Annie regrettably shrieked as she shoved her lover away from her as gently as she could in her state. Armin immediately halted what he was doing and removed himself completely from her body, his face mixed in shock and concern. He was about to touch her face soothingly and ask what was wrong, when she lightly smacked his hand away and scooted herself to the other side of the bed without saying a word.

She curled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees in a protective manner. Her whole body then started to shake with panicked trembles as she faced away from him. Armin had never seen Annie so fragile before. 

She looked like an abandoned cat cornered in an alleyway. His heart sank at the sight of the woman he loved reacting to him like this. The Survey soldier had never intended to scare her, the last thing he wanted was to betray her trust again. He mentally kicked himself repeatedly for doing this to her.

What the blond teen failed to realize was that he was completely wrong. It wasn’t that Annie didn’t trust him. She knew wholeheartedly that Armin would never do anything to hurt her. It was just that this type of intimacy, what they were doing mere moments ago, was something she had denied herself her whole life, and now… it simply felt wrong to give in to her cravings and be selfish like this. No, this had nothing to do with him. It was all her.

Annie’s crotch burned with desire but she just couldn’t go any further with him. She was so unsure of what she wanted in that moment. Well, her heart and her vulva knew what they wanted, but her mind was still trying to decide, and that part of her was the ultimate deciding factor over what the rest of her body did. Was this even an okay thing to do? She no longer believed the bullshit she’d been told growing up about how the citizens of Paradis were simply barbaric devils, Armin alone was proof that it wasn't true, but surely there’d still be repercussions for this, ones that not even the boy genius would be able to predict.

The conflicted blonde dared to look over at the Survey scout she was so attracted to and saw the worry and sadness in his ocean eyes. There was no frustration or contempt in them at all for her killing the mood just now. God, he truly did care for her, didn’t he? He shouldn't have to suffer through her issues with her. Why couldn’t she fucking keep it together the one time she actually wanted to? Why can’t she just be fucking normal for once in her goddamn life so she could at least treat Armin to something he deserves.

That was when she broke down for the second time that night. Sobs racked through Annie’s body as she buried her head into her knees and a new wave of tears she didn’t know she had left poured from her face yet again. For once, Armin wasn’t sure what to do. Should he give the distressed woman in his room some space like she initially seemed to want? Or should he attempt to hold her and try to console her as best he can? 

He cautiously approached Annie, and when she didn’t jerk away after he placed his hands over her shoulders, Armin decided it was alright to fully engulf her in his arms. The teenage boy concealed a yelp as he then felt the crying girl in his arms turn around and return his hug, sobbing even harder. Just like before, Armin held Annie as comfortingly as he could while she bawled her eyes out. Annie was too caught up in her emotions to think about how embarrassing this situation was anymore.

At some point, the blonde couple had ended up lying down on the bed again and Annie’s sobs turned into occasional sniffles. Armin had never stopped rubbing his hand over his lover’s back as she had calmed down enough to speak again. “I’m sorry,” she apologized in a weak voice.

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” the golden-haired teenager responded.

“I completely ruined what we had going on…” Annie trailed off as she looked away from Armin’s gaze.

“You did no such thing,” the young man reassured. “This didn’t change how I feel about you in the slightest.”

“You shouldn’t have to put up with my shit.”

“Annie, don’t you get it by now? I _want_ to put up with your shit.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I do. I wouldn’t have stuck by your side all these years if I didn’t. I’ve never been as serious about anything in my life.”

“Trust me, Arlert. You don’t want to burden yourself with my issues. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.” 

“I probably know you better than anyone else alive right now, Annie. I'm aware of how emotionally compromised you are and I still want nothing more than to be with you forever,” Armin retorted sternly but kindly. He normally admired her stubborn personality, but he couldn’t stand listening to her put herself down like this. Annie didn’t respond this time, just tightened her grip on the back of his shirt. The blond teen continued, “I understand that if I’m with you, I have to deal with your baggage just as you’d have to deal with mine. That’s how relationships work.”

Annie snorted at this. “Relationship? You just confessed your feelings to me only a few hours ago and we barely got to second base tonight. You call that a relationship?”

“Everyone has to start somewhere,” Armin responded to her snarkiness. The girl in his arms only huffed, not wanting to admit he was right nor tell him that the butterflies had returned to her stomach when he mentioned being in a relationship with her. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t played with the idea herself many times in the past, but she tried to never take it too seriously since she’d only be setting herself up for disappointment.

“You’re out of your mind, Arlert,” she hissed at him, but Armin only snickered at that.

“You may be right, but my heart knows what it’s talking about,” he answered. Damn him, he was too sweet for his own good. 

A brand new blush adorned Annie’s face as she looked up at this smooth-talker holding her, and said as deadpanned to him as she could, “You don’t know when to quit, do you?”

“Nope! Especially not when it comes to you,” he stated before planting a soft kiss on her forehead, causing the smallest of smiles to form on the blonde woman’s lips.

“You’re hopeless,” she teased as she booped his cute little button nose, getting another one of his sunshine-filled chuckles to bless her ears with their presence. Feeling significantly more levelheaded now, again because of Armin’s seemingly magical abilities, Annie decided to inspect said young man’s features up close for the first time.

Although she kinda missed his iconic coconut hairdo, Annie had to admit that this shorter haircut fit his newly matured facial structures very well. Armin’s cheekbones finally grew out of the baby fat that had been stuck on his face, and they paralleled the strong jawline the teenager now sported. She had noted earlier that he’d grown quite a bit in height, to the point where he could now easily look down on her if he wanted to (though Annie knew he never would). This was complimented by the bulk of lean muscle he’d gained over the years of physical labor from being in the military that only added to the attractiveness of his physique. 

Another feature Annie had noted even while she was stuck in her crystal was that Armin’s voice had deepened considerably since his cadet days. Somehow it never lost his soothing tone, for which Annie was eternally grateful. Even with all these skeletal changes, Armin was never able to outgrow his boyish face. Not that Annie was complaining about it. 

It was nice having some part of him that was still recognizable. It brought forth a sense of comforting nostalgia that she didn’t realize resided in her brain. That pleasant, friendly face reminded her of a simpler time, before she imprisoned herself in the crystal and everything had gotten so much more complicated. His mouth still naturally had that optimistic upturn to it despite all the horrors he’s gone through.

The previously mentioned button nose that adorned his adorable face betrayed the rest of his more mature body but it was probably one of Annie’s favorite features, second only to his eyes. Those breathtaking blue orbs reminded the warrior girl of the ocean and were still filled with that childlike wonder whenever he looked at her. Even with how youthful his eyes appeared, she was well aware of how much wisdom beyond Armin’s years lied beneath them. The Marleyan girl felt like she could study those dazzling irises for days and still find new things to learn about the boy from the Shiganshina District.

Annie could truly say, somewhat sadly she had to admit, that the boy she once knew was now officially a man. Physical characteristics he had that she’d previously found cute or endearing could now be considered handsome and alluring, and she wasn’t sure whether she was upset that the Armin she knew was mostly gone or grateful that this new Armin was even more good-looking and still just as good-natured. She decided to accept the latter as she sighed and laid her head back down on said man’s chest.

The golden-haired teen allowed a content smile to cross his face as he stroked his long-time crush’s hair. He listened to her slow breathing and tried not to let his heartbeat speed up too quickly, in fear of stirring her out of this new calm she was in. Armin decided then that if he died right now, if Eren’s Rumbling managed to catch up to the boat and crush him in this very instant, he’d be fine with it. This was everything he’d ever wanted in his life. He just hoped he'd be able to get Annie and everyone else out of there first.

This peace was disrupted when Armin’s mind went back to what had been troubling him previously. “Annie, now that I’ve got you alone, can I ask you something?”

“I don’t see any reason to stop you,” said girl hummed as she snuggled her head against her new favorite pillow.

“Back when you were chasing down Scouts in those fields outside the Walls, why didn’t you kill me then?” the Eldian teen repeated the question he’d asked at the bottom of the stairs all those years ago. Armin expected the tenseness he felt in Annie's muscles after asking her that, he knew it was a loaded question.

The Female Titan Shifter was silent for a moment, contemplating what to say. She wasn’t even entirely sure _herself_ why she decided to spare him back then and even today she still didn’t really have a clear answer. After a while of reminiscing what happened tonight and then searching deep down inside her stone heart, she was finally able to make a conclusion.

“I think back then I realized that you didn’t deserve to be killed by me. You were nice, hopeful, and optimistic, and deserved to live to try and accomplish your dream. I knew you’d contribute great things to humanity and meant it when you said you’d work as hard as you could to make it as good as possible. I couldn’t find it in myself to squander out what little sunshine there is in this cruel world like that. Even against my better judgement I knew I couldn’t hurt you. Ultimately it was my decision to make, consequences be damned. You were the only person who ever really showed any genuine kindness towards me without expecting anything in return, and I wasn’t about to kill one of the only people I’d become attached to on that island.”

Annie was just as shocked as Armin with how heartfelt she was in that moment. She doesn’t think she’s ever said so much at once before, but she was so glad to let all that out. “Do you regret your decision?” the boy from Paradis asked as he held the Marleyan girl closer.

“Not even a little,” Annie confessed as she cuddled up under Armin’s chin.

“I was sorta hoping one of the reasons was because you had a crush on me back then,” the blond teen interrupted teasingly, earning him another flick to the forehead from the girl in his arms.

“I never said it wasn't,” the stoic blonde admitted as a proud smile grew across her lover’s face. “Don’t let it get to your head, Arlert. Neither of them.”

Armin was confused as to what she meant at first, but after realizing the innuendo he burst out laughing. He’d never heard Annie make a joke like that before, and the pure shock of it sent him into a fit of guffawing. After a few seconds he heard laughter echoing his own, and looked to see Annie genuinely smiling and laughing alongside him. 

Annie was just continuing to surprise him tonight and he was loving every second of it. He genuinely wasn’t sure until now that she was even capable of laughing like this. The only other time he’d seen her laugh was at the top of the stairs when she’d sorta lost her mind after realizing he was leading her into a trap.

But while that instance was out of malice and slight insanity, this time it was of pure joy, and Armin felt the warmth from his chest swell over his entire body. God he loved her laugh, even when she aborably snorted occasionally. It was like an angelic melody to his ears. He decided from then on that he’d do whatever he could to try and make her laugh everyday.

After both blondes had settled down from their laughing fit, Armin decided to bring up another topic that had been bothering him. “I’m sorry.”

“What do you have to apologize for, Arlert?” Annie inquired.

“For everything. For deceiving you, for trying to trap you, for getting you stuck in that crystal, for not being there when you woke up again, for getting you involved in this new mess you never signed up for. All of it. None of this would have happened to you if it wasn’t for me,” Armin apologized as he turned his head away in shame, guilt racking his conscience.

To the Eldian’s shock, he felt the petite girl in his bed grab his face and force him to look back at her. “I want to make something very clear here, Armin,” she scolded him. “None of this is your fault. You had no say at all in what I did and you reacted how anyone in your position would have. It may have hurt at the time when you tried tricking me but I never took what you did to me personally. You were only doing your duty just as I was doing mine. It was also me who put myself in that crystal and Eren who started this whole new situation we all have to deal with, not you, so don’t take so much credit for everything and stop blaming yourself for all this.”

The Survey soldier sighed in resignation. “I suppose. I just feel guilty about tricking you back then, even if it was to save Eren.” Though Armin supposed looking back that maybe he indeed should have let his best friend be executed. No, he’d never be able to live with that guilt. What he did was right at the time, no one could have predicted this current predicament.

“No need to be. There’s no hard feelings there at all, you’ve more than made up for it by talking to me those four years I was crystallized."

“Really?"

“Do you think I’d even be here with you right now if that wasn’t the case? Come on, Arlert. I know you're smarter than that.” Said blond man laughed a bit despite himself. It just wouldn’t be Annie without the occasional taunt thrown at him, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I know, it’s just nice to hear you confirm it is all,” Armin responded.

“Besides, I knew even back then that you were probably trying to deceive me. You may be good at getting others to fall for your tricks, Arlert, but not me,” the lion-hearted girl informed her now stupefied bunkmate.

“If you knew I was leading you to a trap then why’d you go along with it?” he questioned.

“Because I liked you, dummy. I figured you’d never do anything to lose my trust since you worked so hard to gain it in the first place.”

Another pang of guilt shot through Armin. “That makes sense I guess,” he responded rather dejectedly.

“Speaking of which, thanks for being a little pest while we were in the training course,” Annie teased out of the blue.

The young man chuckled a little. “Yeah, sorry about that. I shouldn’t have bothered you so much back then, looking back I can see how it’d be invasive and kinda creepy.”

“No don’t be, I’m glad you did. I needed someone to be like that in order for me to make friends. I appreciate you putting in the effort despite how harsh I was to you initially.”

“I suppose it did end up saving my life in the end, huh?” Armin mused.

“I definitely would’ve crushed you like a bug otherwise,” the blonde girl teased as she laid her head back onto her lover’s chest. Something then crossed her mind. “Is it okay if I ask you something now?”

“It’d only be fair,” the blond teen hummed.

“Why did you decide to confess to me earlier today? I mean, the world as we know it is literally on the brink of collapse, it seems a little weird that you’d choose now to tell me how you feel and not some other time.”

Now it was Armin’s turn to ponder in silence for a few moments. It didn’t take him quite as long as Annie to find his answer, but it was still one he hadn’t truly thought about until now. “I suppose it mostly just comes down to the fact that there was never really any other time to do so. I mean I wasn’t going to confess to you how I felt while you were still in that crystal. I wanted to do it face to face and I wasn’t sure if you could even hear me back then. Plus I figured I should take advantage of the rare bit of downtime we had and I supposed there’s really no better time to tell someone your deepest thoughts and desires than when you’re not sure if you’ll survive ‘til the next day, right?”

Annie slumped atop her lover’s pectorals as she looked him in the eyes. “Well then as part of the Survey Corps, shouldn’t you have told me how you felt a long time ago since you were constantly putting your life at risk?” she asked him jokingly.

Armin laughed at his bedmate’s dark humor. “If I had been fully aware of my own feelings for you at the time I probably would have. Though it also didn’t help that you joined the Military Police and I couldn’t properly communicate to you,” he responded lightheartedly.

“Hm, true,” Annie mused as she laid her head back down again. She took this time to listen to Armin’s rhythmic heartbeat, reminding herself that despite everything that has happened, he was still here, living and breathing and holding her close to him. It was soothing.

Meanwhile Armin took this time to appreciate Annie’s presence further. He would never have taken this distant girl to be such a cuddler had he not experienced it for himself. She’d always seemed so reluctant to any physical contact… aside from decking someone in the gut of course. 

The young survey soldier reckoned she must have been touch starved from either denying herself or being denied of it her whole life, and he was not about to deny her this now. Besides, he was most certainly in need of as much affection as possible, too. He deeply inhaled Annie’s fragrance, recognizing hints of butterscotch, pine trees and, surprisingly, daisies. It was incredibly pleasant and he squeezed the girl resting atop him tighter.

“There anything else on your mind you wanna talk about before we decide to call it a night?” Annie asked suddenly. This made Armin panic slightly. Go to sleep? Already? No! He’d finally gotten to cuddle and converse extensively with his crush, he wasn’t ready for this to end yet!

He quickly came up with something. “Um… So, I completely understand if you can’t, but I’ve been wondering for years now if you could ever forgive me for betraying you back at Stohess. I think I’d get over it eventually if you say you no, but for my own sanity I’d really like to hear your answer no matter what it is.”

The former member of the Military Police huffed away a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face. Was it really not obvious to him by now? She decided to have some fun with this. “Hmm, I don’t know, Armin. It might take me quite a lot of convincing to forgive you after such a heinous act you committed. You’ll have to prove yourself,” Annie alluded with a somewhat seductive smile and half-lidded eyes, hoping the brainiac would take the hint.

Thankfully, Armin’s face lit up slightly in realization before a similarly seductive look crossed his face. He leaned in closer to the girl on his chest, sitting them both back up in the process. He paused right before their lips connected, and Annie could feel his hot breath lingering and stick to her skin. “You mean like this?” he asked huskily. What a fucking tease. She closed the short distance between them and it felt like a fire had ignited. Except this fire was wet and reeked of hormones instead of smoke.

Annie smiled against Armin’s mouth as she pressed his lips further into hers. With her hands preoccupied by traversing the Scout's lean torso, Annie allowed her mind to wander to a single thought. She was going to make sure that this was a night neither of them would ever forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, they finally sealed their relationship. Sorry this part was so long, there was a lot of subtext in Armin and Annie's relationship that I wanted these two to discuss. I hope this was still fairly easy to read and keep you invested. I know there still probably isn't as much smuttiness as you'd like yet but believe me when I say the buildup will be worth it for the payoff in the next chapter. Don't forget that this is a character study first and a lemon second. Yes I'm aware that I'm a tease. ;) Patience, my friends. Next time I promise. Hopefully that's enough persuasion to see you all once I upload the last part to this little story.


	3. Hands All Over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Not much to say here, just a warning that this chapter contains very explicit sexual content. Though I'm pretty sure that's what most of you are here for anyway. ;) Hope you enjoy and that this quenches some of your never ending thirst, you fellow degenerates!

The once chilly, silent room that was Armin Arlert’s bunker had turned into a steamy love-cave filled with muffled moans as he and Annie Leonhart embraced as intimately as two people possibly could. The two Titan Shifters could feel the friction between them build as they grinded their bodies against each other, and it wasn’t long before they started to lose awareness of all their surroundings aside from the partner they currently held in their arms. Annie’s fingers weaved their way through Armin’s golden locks as her long-awaited knight in shining armor continued where he left off. 

His hand made its way back under her thin nightgown and traveled upwards. He stopped right beneath the bottom of her breast as soon as he felt it and pulled his lips away from Annie’s long enough to look her in the eyes. He could feel her heartbeat increase in speed against his hand as his eyes asked without words whether or not she was okay to continue. The flushed woman nodded swiftly before locking her lips with his again. This was something she wanted.

His confidence renewed, Armin wasted no time in fondling the lump of flesh on Annie’s chest once again, hearing her moan into his mouth in the process. He assaulted her nipple just as he had before, and this time Annie couldn’t keep her lips attached to Armin’s as she yanked her head back and gasped audibly.

The Eldian boy was not done torturing her just yet. As his mouth went for her now exposed neck, his other hand went under Annie’s nightgown and groped her neglected breast. “Ngh, Armin,” she whined as she bit down on her pointer finger to try and suppress her moans. Witnessing this action sent a fearful jolt through Armin’s spine. If she bit hard enough to draw blood right now there’s no telling whether or not she could keep herself from accidentally transforming into her Titan form. 

Worst case scenario, she would sink the ship and drown everybody. Best case scenario, he’d have to explain to everyone the next morning why Annie suddenly transformed into the Female Titan in the middle of the night. Thinking about either situation was, to say the least, _mortifying_ to the maturing teen.

He quickly stopped what he was doing and decided to focus his hands elsewhere, which thankfully got Annie to wrap her arms around Armin’s neck instead. The blond strategist internally sighed in relief. He hadn’t realized how much potential danger there was when it came to making love with Titan Shifters.

Instead of touching the ultra-sensitive parts of Annie’s chest, Armin decided to place his hands in another, arguably sexier section than her bosom. His digits slowly glided their way down the warrior girl’s lean, muscular back until he reached the bottom. _Her_ bottom to be precise. As soon as his palms cusped her perfectly round ass, he squeezed with as much fervency as he had previously with her breasts and he heard Annie’s throat make a moaning sound. 

So she was sensitive here, too. That was good to know. The blond caressed the smooth mounds that were Annie’s backside and a vocal “Mmf!” resounded through her teeth. Annie bit her lip as Armin kneaded the muscles of her butt like clumps of dough, it was stimulating and relaxing at the same time. The blonde could feel herself getting more and more soaked with each passing second, she didn’t know how much more she could take.

Suddenly Annie felt the fabric of her nightgown being dragged upwards gently. Armin was begging if he could take it off her without actually saying anything. As if she would say no to that. She temporarily released her stronghold on her lover and allowed him to delicately pull the nightgown up and over her lean frame.

Armin paused to take this opportunity to finally admire Annie completely exposed in all her glory. Holy fuck. She was even more stunning than any of his dreams could possibly have conjured up. Her pale skin reflecting the moonlight made her look like some sort of ethereal goddess. He felt unworthy to be on the same planet as her let alone bedroom. A fierce blush adorned both of their faces and for a while nothing happened between them. Armin didn’t even dare breathe yet, he was sure he’d suffocate just like his nether regions currently were in his pants.

Eventually a flirtatious smile formed on Annie’s reddened face as she realized her Prince Charming was stunned silent. For a second the warrior girl was able to forget how insecure she was about her body, again because of Armin. She was flattered, but she was also horny, and needed to bring him back down to Earth so he could finish what he’d started. The naked woman decided to snap him out of it by getting up in his face and planting a quick little kiss on the cute, upturned button nose on his cute, dumbfounded face.

That did the trick. The stupefied soldier shook his head and his previously wide eyes turned dark and lustful, brimming with a hunger that both intimidated and excited Annie. Before she could react, Armin swiftly grabbed her and flipped her over so her back was now planted on the mattress. She looked up at him in shock, where was this strength and speed during their training course?

He now hovered over Annie, staring and panting at her like a starving wolf at an injured deer. She had never seen him like this before, she would never have guessed that the sweet, innocent Armin she knew was even capable of having this side to him. The blonde woman was quickly able to get over her initial fear, however, as she sat back up and kissed her feral suitor with as much ferocity as him.

He lunged for her breasts, mercilessly playing with her sensitive, perky nipples as she moaned yet again. Annie then decided it wasn’t fair that she was the only one who was baring herself, so she started fumbling with the buttons of Armin’s shirt as she wrestled his tongue with hers. She eventually managed to unlatch every last one and stripped the Survey soldier of his top.

Now it was Annie’s turn to gawk. Goddamn did this boy have a deceptively well-toned body. The outline of his chest and arm muscles stood out dreamily in the otherwise dark room, and the shadows from the dim lighting made his chiseled abs look even more defined than they already were. But he also wasn’t ridiculously bulky like some men that Annie was personally repulsed by the look of. It always felt to her like they were trying to compensate for something else by becoming huge and she was never impressed.

Armin was muscular but he was still rather lean, with just the right amount of definition to show how strong and active he was. It was the perfect ratio of muscle to match his brains and personality. Puberty had been very kind to this kid indeed, it made the blonde girl swoon. Though she supposed anyone who had the type of lifestyle Armin did for as long as he has would naturally become pretty built. She had never really given much thought about what her ideal man would look like, but she decided right then that Armin perfectly fit that bill.

Smiling with pride and mischievous intent at her similar stunned silence, Armin placed his hand on Annie’s clavicle and gently pushed her back down onto the mattress before capturing her lips again. While continuing to knead her boobs, Armin’s mouth left Annie’s and started trailing kisses down her cheek, then jawline, continuing down her neck until he was close to the base of it. He relished in her gasps as he sucked and gently bit on the sensitive skin there.

After a minute or two Armin finally let up, leaning back onto his knees so he could marvel at his handiwork. She was definitely going to have a lovebite in the morning, he had officially marked her as his. While he was looking over her, Armin finally noticed something about Annie that he hadn’t before. “Hey, your body looks a lot older than it did in the crystal,” he noted outwardly.

“Well that’s rude, Arlert,” Annie huffed. “Don’t you know not to tell a woman she looks like she’s aged at all?”

Armin blushed slightly. “Sorry,” he apologized, but he got back to the topic at hand just as quickly. “But seriously, why does your body look more physically mature than before?”

Just as perceptive as ever, Annie surmised to herself. Truly nothing did get past him, did it? She supposed it was just another thing she found endearing and alluring about him. “To be honest I’m not entirely sure, myself. But I think it has something to do with my Titan Powers making me grow much more rapidly than normal to catch up to the years I lost while I was in the crystal.”

“Huh, I suppose that makes sense. I’ll have to inform Hange about this tomorrow.”

Annie groaned. “Can you _please_ not think about your duties for once and instead focus on the naked girl lying in your bed?”

“Oh, right!” Armin exclaimed as he kissed said girl again. That’s better. She wrapped his arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, however the Scout had no intention of staying liplocked with her for long. Mere moments later he released himself from Annie’s embrace and started kissing down her neck again.

The stimulated young woman whined and twisted her torso back and forth as her lover and tormenter kissed her neck, then clavicle, then sternum, until his mouth was hovering over her left nipple. It stood up eagerly, as if beckoning Armin to plant his mouth around it and start sucking, so that’s exactly what he did. The typically quiet girl all but shrieked as she felt the blond soldier roll his tongue over the nub on her chest, followed by pulling on the sensitive flesh with his teeth.

Annie’s hands dove for Armin’s back as he made his way to the other neglected nipple, making her gasp and moan the entire time. While this was going on, one of Armin’s hands tangled itself into his bedmate’s scalp while the other roamed to regions lower than her bosom. He felt along her abdomen and heard Annie whine once he brushed over her navel. The scholarly teen noticed that despite not having been used for years, her muscles hadn’t atrophied at all. 

They were still impeccably built and looked as if a master sculptor of human anatomy had carved them out of the finest marble. Armin also couldn’t help but admire how silky Annie’s platinum blonde hair felt and how deceptively soft her skin was. He could feel her powerful muscles quiver and tense up underneath his fingers as he delicately touched all over her bare, perfectly smooth flesh, wanting to memorize every bump, fold and crease until he felt like he could make a sculpture of her flawless body while blindfolded.

Now it was time for the real test. He slid his hand even further, past her navel, beyond her lower abs, until he felt the tickles of short, slightly curly hairs that told him he had reached her groin. Annie whimpered slightly. Armin could tell now that both of their heartbeats were picking up in speed. They both knew they were approaching the point of no return. He looked to her for approval silently, and after a few moments, she nodded nervously, giving him permission to continue.

Armin obliged as his fingers scurried their way through her bush and found the smooth, slick folds of Annie’s nether regions. The first thing the amateur boy noted was just how drenched she was down there. He hadn’t realized he’d turned her on that much. Armin knew from books he’d read that women’s groins became wet when they were aroused, but he had no idea it’d be like this. 

His fingers continued their trek, slipping between and fondling her folds as the poor girl moaned and gripped the bedsheets impossibly tighter. At one point, Armin’s middle finger wandered near the top of her vulva and brushed over a small nub of flesh. This in turn caused Annie’s back to lurch up suddenly and her breath to catch in her throat as her eyes snapped open. The Eldian teen was equally as shocked by this impulsive reaction from the Marleyan warrior as she was, and he made a mental note to himself to remember that spot for later.

His fingers carried on with their assault on Annie’s dripping wet pussy, driving the aroused girl wild with ecstasy. It wasn’t long before Armin’s middle finger slipped into her opening, causing Annie’s head to roll backwards into his pillow as she gasped. Wanting to test this new method, Armin started pumping his digit in and out of the muscular hole, watching with sadistic delight as Annie whimpered and shut her eyes tightly, trying to handle this new wave of pleasure.

Deciding his single appendage wasn’t enough, Armin inserted his ring finger into Annie’s already overwhelmed vagina and the blonde teen had to turn her face into the pillow to muffle her scream. The Survey soldier continued to pump his fingers in and out repeatedly with an almost cruel smile on his face as his bedmate tried not to cry out loud. He could feel her vaginal muscles clench around his digits, knowing he’d made the right decision. Damn she was tight.

But he wasn’t done yet. He remembered reading about a certain spot inside of a woman’s vagina that was close to but slightly above the opening and faced the abdomen. Specifically, he recalled that when stimulated, this spot caused a spasmic reaction of sorts. The next time Armin pumped his fingers, he curled them upwards, pressing down on a small, round, bumpy mound of flesh right behind her pubic bone. 

This gave the blond boy exactly the type of reaction he’d been hoping for. Annie’s eyelids shot open as her breath caught in her throat and her hips launched forwards. Armin didn’t think she could possibly get wetter than she already was yet he could feel more fluid start to dribble between his fingers, drip through her outer folds and fall onto the bed, forming a damp spot on the sheets.

As soon as Annie had somewhat recovered, Armin mercilessly pumped his fingers again, over and over with the same upward curling motion. The poor girl was nearly in tears now she was in so much arousal. Her hips involuntarily moved with the motion of Armin’s hands as she vocally panted and her eyes rolled into the back of her skull. She could feel something building up inside her groin as she began losing herself in the pleasure.

Eventually, the sadistic soldier took mercy on the Marleyan woman and removed his hand from her pussy completely, leaving Annie heaving for air and her crotch feeling lonely. He looked at his fingers and admired how they glistened from Annie’s juices. The observant teen noticed a thin trail of the fluid was held between his digits as he spread them apart. He inserted them into his mouth and licked them clean. 

The flavor was a bit tangy but addicting, he just had to taste more of her. This was when Armin started kissing down her stomach again, taking his time to linger his lips and tongue on each patch of skin he touched, making the overwhelmed blonde squirm and whine from the contact.

He trailed along her navel, pecked the lining of her bush, then hovered his face over her now drenched, throbbing vulva. She begged internally for him to kiss her there too, but instead he brought his head up to her lower thigh just below her knee and started kissing down from that. God he was so cruel. She always knew he was truly an Eldian devil behind that sweet demeanor of his. 

Eventually he did trail back down to her awaiting pussy and he took a moment to gaze at it fondly. He could tell even in the dim lighting that her pubic hair was about the same blonde color as the hair on her head. Her outer folds were hairless and wrapped protectively around her inner folds, which were slicker and much more pink. 

He could feel the heat radiating from her pulsing genitalia and knew she was impatiently waiting for him to touch her there. A strong aroma emanated from Annie’s opening and it caused a crazed look to gleam over Armin’s eyes. He resisted the urge to drool as his mouth approached the tender pink flesh of his lover’s crotch. She looked absolutely delicious.

Armin’s tongue tested the waters first by slowly sliding it upwards through her center, earning himself a cry from Annie. “Armin, please,” she begged. She needn’t say more. He engulfed as much of her vulva into his mouth as he could, sucking on her folds and inserting his tongue into her desperate hole.

The aroused woman’s hands clutched the golden locks of Armin’s head which currently resided between her legs while her face contorted in pleasure. Suddenly remembering something, Armin removed his tongue from Annie’s hole and moved it upwards, lapping at the small pearl-like external organ he’d touched earlier.

He almost broke his nose at the sudden lunge Annie’s hips made toward his face. She cried out in a high pitched sound that was so girly, Armin couldn’t believe that it had just come from _Annie_. Despite nearly injuring himself initially, the Scout doubled his efforts on pleasing the hypersensitive nub, suddenly remembering it was called a clitoris. Clearly it felt good to Annie if it invoked such a strong reaction from her, so of course he was going to focus on that.

He didn’t recall any of his books saying the clitoris would have this effect on women and wondered to himself if this was just something that was unique to Annie or if the authors had just not realized what the clitoris did. He found it pretty odd that it’d only affect one woman like this so he decided the writers just overlooked this. The blond bookworm made another internal note that if he ever wrote an anatomy book he’d be sure to rectify this oversight. Anyway, back to focusing on the owner of the pink pearl in question.

Starting off slowly, Armin continued licking, sucking, and even biting the throbbing little lump of flesh and Annie squirmed and cried out every time. The now hypersensitive woman’s reactions only increased as he picked up in speed. Who would’ve thought such a small part of her body could do this to her? It was as if he had her completely wrapped around his finger. Almost literally he supposed. Wait. That actually gave him a new idea. 

While Annie was currently preoccupied with feeling the ecstasy of Armin licking her clitoris, he caught her completely off-guard by inserting two of his fingers into her entrance and doing the same pumping and curling motion as before. It was too much. She couldn’t handle it anymore. She screamed as her hips wracked against his mouth in sync with his fingers. She vocally begged him for more as her vagina clenched even tighter around his digits than before and her hands tugged at the strands in his head harder.

She could feel that buildup from earlier starting to reach a boiling point. Something was going to happen, she was so close now. “Armin, I’m… I’m going to… AUGH!” Annie exclaimed as she felt a sudden burst from her groin release a pulse of pleasure that rushed over her entire body. She felt her muscles shudder as her eyes rolled back and her mouth gaped open. She had absolutely no control of her body but she was too absorbed in euphoria to care or even notice.

As she was climaxing her hips had involuntarily risen up to the point where she had to balance herself on her tiptoes. While in this position her pussy had released a fast spurt of liquid, almost as if she was peeing. It sprayed Armin in the face a bit but like the gentleman he was, didn’t remove his mouth or fingers from her spastic crotch until her pelvis had plummeted back onto the mattress. Only then did he pull himself away from Annie’s now gushing crevice and look over the panting girl beneath him.

The blond strategist had never seen the fierce combatant so winded before, not even from their hardest training days at the academy. Annie was practically unresponsive as she lied there straining to catch her breath. He chuckled lightly as he bent down and kissed her as delicately as he could, betraying the heavenly torture he’d just put the girl through.

“What… did you... do to me?” Armin could barely hear her weak, out of breath voice. Her heart was beating as if she’d just ran a marathon.

The blond Scout was taken aback for a second. “Um, Annie… have… have you never had an orgasm until now?”

“… No…” was the girl’s meager response.

“So… you’ve never… y’know… masturbated before?”

“When… would I… have been able to… Arlert?” she wheezed out. Truthfully, Annie has had many urges in the past to relieve the pressure between her legs, usually because of Armin after they'd gotten to know each other, but always forced herself to ignore it and continue on. She had training to do after all, there was no time for pleasure. That’s what her father had told her all her life. That she must never give into temptations of any kind. Just stay focused on her goal.

Back when she was still a spy in the academy, Annie had overheard some of the girls discussing several times how they’d touch themselves and who they thought about while doing so, but she almost never engaged with them even when they tried to pressure her into it. Why say something when she didn’t have anything to contribute?

The only time she ever said anything was one particular evening when the girls were discussing which boy they thought was the most attractive. “Come on, Annie. There’s gotta be someone you like,” her bunkmate at the time, Mina Carolina, beckoned to her. The blonde girl didn’t turn around. “I know I’ve seen you hang out with Bertholdt and Reiner a few times, is it one of those two?”

Alright, at _that_ she had to react. Her brows furrowed in disgust and she made the cringe on her face known to Mina just to show how utterly wrong she was. Like she would ever even _think_ about having feelings for one of those buffoons. They weren’t even friends to her, just purely people she put up with because she needed them as a means to an end so she could complete this stupid mission and return home to her father safely. Nothing more.

“Okay, okay. Bad guess,” Mina chuckled lightheartedly. “Hmm… how about Eren? I know Mikasa’s kinda claimed him already but I’ve seen you train with him a lot.”

The wrinkles in Annie’s face softened but not much. Eren at the very least intrigued her but her feelings involving him were still far from anything romantic in nature. The boy had drive and passion but he was far too much of a brat and way too impatient and boneheaded for her to find him appealing in any way, aside from being useful as a decent punching bag to toss around that is. She really was just training him for her own amusement and for the fact that he admired her technique enough that he was willing to listen to her.

“Still not it, huh?” Mina sighed. “I give up! Is there anyone you’d consider attractive here, Annie?” Said girl pondered this for a moment. Was there? She thought for a second and her mind led her to an incredibly bright and kind but short, wimpy blond boy that nevertheless had nearly as much determination as Eren yet for some reason had never been mentioned by any of these superficial whores. She couldn’t hold back the slightest upturn at the corners of her lips as she thought of this boy from Shiganshina.

“Armin,” she answered bluntly to the shock of everyone in the cabin. She was immediately flooded with questions about why and how she could possibly be attracted to him but that was all she was willing to give to her little audience as she smoothly strutted out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Really she’d mostly just said that to get the idea she liked any of those other suggestions out of her roommates’ heads, but there was some truth to her response, too.

As she walked outside, the spy had heard the other girls discussing how they would never have guessed that Annie liked Armin. They were saying things like how he was so small and weak, and how he was nice and all but he didn’t look anything like how a real man should. The Marleyan girl remembered how she seethed at hearing them say such awful things about possibly the only decent person on this damn island, and spent the rest of the night kicking trees in the forest to burn off her anger.

Armin had even asked Annie at one point if she could help him train to fight like she did with Eren, and after she politely turned him down he didn’t make a fuss about it at all like most people would have. It nearly made her feel guilty for dismissing him, even though she knew it was for his own good since his frail form wouldn’t have been able to handle it like Eren could. He was incredibly patient and understanding while being willing to face whatever obstacle was thrown at him to the best of his ability, and she had no idea how anybody could overlook such wonderful traits in someone. Annie was convinced those broads didn’t know a single thing that they were talking about. 

At the time she wished she could have turned into the Female Titan and crushed that stupid cabin filled with all those shallow girls. She only held back because she was so steadfast in her mission and didn’t want to potentially expose herself as an infiltrator. And now here she was in the present, currently alive and being pleasured into an Earth-shattering orgasm brought forth by the very person they’d dared to have scorned back in the day. Boy did they sure miss out.

“So did you enjoy that?” Armin questioned with feigned innocence as his fiendish smirk returned, proud that he’d accomplished giving the girl of his dreams her first climax. Annie hated and adored him for his smug tone.

“Fuck… you…” she panted out. The Eldian devil laughed, taking that as a yes.

“Well if you insist,” he teased as he leaned down to capture her lips again. Annie could taste herself on Armin’s face and knowing how dirty this was turned her on even more than before, allowing herself to find her second wind and return his kiss with newfound reserves. If this was anyone else, the Survey Scout might have been surprised at someone being able to recover from such an intense orgasm like that, but he was more than aware that the girl underneath him was capable of incredible feats. This was practically a walk in the park for her.

Armin felt immense pride in both Annie for impressing him yet again, and himself for being lucky enough to land a catch like her. “Already down for more, huh?” he teased.

“Never underestimate me, Arlert,” Annie countered.

“I wouldn’t imagine it,” he agreed as he took her chin and pressed his lips to hers again. Armin didn’t think he’d ever get sick of doing that, it was intoxicating. He felt the warrior girl’s petite hands caress the sides of his face and he hummed into her mouth.

“Wait,” Annie abruptly halted from kissing the blond boy and pulled his face away so he could look at her own. “I think it’s time I repaid the favor.”

Armin’s mouth dropped. He was not expecting her to offer that at all. “Y-you don’t have to do that. I-it’s not really necess-”

“No. Trust me, I want to do this,” the Marleyan woman insisted as she started fiddling with her lover’s belt buckle.

The awestruck teenager laughed lightly. “You always were direct with what you wanted.”

“Shut up, Arlert,” Annie snapped as she finally managed to unzip his pants. Damn these overly complex straps and hooks the Scouts were forced to wear.

“Why don’t you make me, Miss Leonhart?” he taunted further.

“Gladly,” was her only response. Oh she was going to make him regret saying that. She pulled down on the waist of his pants, leaving only his undergarments left to conceal the impressive bulge between his legs. Annie licked her lips as she nervously pulled those down as well, leaving her to be greeted by Armin’s raging, rockhard boner that was much larger than she’d anticipated.

Good lord, how was he even able to walk with all that extra weight he had to carry around? So this was wear most of his height went. The once smug girl was now left slack-jawed as the owner of the member in question blushed profusely. Armin looked away and rubbed the back of his head with his hand nervously. The one on his shoulders, it should be specified.

“Erm… sorry. I’m sure it’s not as good as you expected,” he mumbled shyly.

It took Annie a second to process what the hung boy had said because she was so transfixed on this… _monster_ growing out of his crotch. “No… it’s better,” she told him, causing Armin’s head to swivel back to her in surprise. Now the petite girl was slightly intimidated, how was she going to be able to take this thing? It had to be around eight inches long and was girthier than two of her fingers combined. 

Annie was pretty sure she’d eaten bratwurst smaller than this. She felt like his cock would tear her apart if she tried inserting it even with all the lubrication she’d made prior to this. The blonde girl couldn’t tell if this scared or excited her. If she didn’t have regenerative powers then the Female Titan Shifter honestly wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle this.

“I can see why they call you the Colossal Titan,” she quipped as she gently took hold of his shaft. Armin would have chuckled at that had he not been jolted by Annie’s touch on his throbbing member. He started to moan as the Marleyan girl slowly stroked up and down the length of Armin’s dick with her right hand. Due to her inexperience of dealing with parts like these, Annie wasn’t exactly a master at doing this yet. Thankfully she was a fast learner. She watched Armin’s reactions to whatever she did, and once she caught on to when his facial expressions portrayed pain or pleasure, she was able to get the hang of it fairly quickly.

While her right palm pumped his length in somewhat fast, steady strokes with a moderate grip, her left hand played with his balls in a gentle manner, earning groans from the young man. Not long after getting her rhythm down, Annie noticed that a clear fluid had started to drip out of the tip of Armin’s penis. Lustful hunger grew in her eyes and she was overcome with the need to taste it herself. While still stroking his shaft, the blonde girl lowered her head to the bulbous end of his member. 

Her tongue then emerged from her mouth and started lapping away at his tip, making Armin shudder at the new sensation. He tasted salty, and Annie soon found herself longing for more. She eventually pulled her tongue back, opened her mouth, and slowly inserted the hard, thick piece of meat into her orifice. Her blond lover gasped as she pulled back to the base of the head and repeated the motion, pumping her mouth over his length. While she did that her tongue never stopped curling around the shaft and head of Armin’s dick.

Soon the Scout was starting to feel himself get dizzy. The sensation of Annie’s wet mouth sliding down his penis sent a shiver up Armin’s spine. It felt so much better when someone else stroked him than when he did it himself. At this point Annie was trying her hardest not to gag as she inserted as much of his length into her fairly small maw as she could, Armin’s meaty cock tickling her uvula in the process. 

But this wasn’t enough for the Survey soldier. Without even thinking he grabbed the back of Annie’s head and started thrusting his hips into her face as if she was some sort of fuck toy. The head of his penis rammed into her throat and tears started brimming her eyes as they rolled into the back of her head again. An involuntary high pitched moan vibrated in her trachea as drool started to drip out of her mouth and down her chin. She could hardly breath but she didn’t really care, she loved this.

After a few more pumps, Armin came to and realized what he was doing. With a panicked gasp he quickly pulled himself out of Annie’s mouth and checked on her as she coughed. “I’m so sorry about that, I was getting carried away.”

“You think?” Annie sputtered as she looked up at him. There wasn’t really any contempt in her gaze to be seen, though. Armin kissed his muse’s forehead apologetically and waited for her breathing to return to normal. Filled with adrenaline after being nearly asphyxiated and deciding that this was enough foreplay for the both of them, Annie took this moment to catch Armin by surprise.

Without warning, she grabbed onto his fairly broad shoulders and twisted him around while a cry of alarm escaped his mouth. She shoved him into the springy mattress with enough force to make the bed’s structure creak, and she looked down at his shocked face with an amorous look on her own. It took Armin a mere second to recover, and his palms almost immediately grasped Annie’s ass for a good hard squeeze.

The Marleyan warrior tried to suppress a moan as he kneaded her firm glutes before the Eldian soldier below her mashed their lips together. Armin’s nose and cheeks tickled as the platinum blonde hair of his lover fell over his face. She growled while biting onto his lower lip and Armin responded by smacking her ass. The blonde girl gasped and her pussy brushed over the Scout’s still raging boner. Oh yeah. How could she forget about that?

She began to taunt him by sliding the slick outer folds of her vulva over his sensitive tip, earning her a few moans from the previously confident young man. Her right hand rested on Armin’s lower abs while her left placed itself on his right leg. “I can tell you want it, Armin,” she goaded him on. Truthfully she wanted it just as badly if not more than he did as she stroked her labia and clit with the head of his dick. She could feel herself getting wet again and she found that she wasn’t scared anymore of whether or not it could fit inside her. All the competitive woman wanted now was to rial him up and bring out that wild side again. “Are you going to wuss out and let this moment pass you up, or are you gonna be a man and take what’s yours?”

Before Annie could even let out a gasp, Armin’s eyes flashed something dangerous and his hands shot up to her waist faster than she thought was humanly possible. His digits gripped her with such intensity that it started to hurt but this was exactly what she wanted. Without warning he plunged his cock deep into her tight, unprepared hole. 

A voiceless cry escaped Annie’s mouth as she felt the tip of his throbbing member reach the very end of her innermost area. She didn’t even have time to comprehend what just happened as he partially pulled himself out and pounded into her yet again, this time a very vocal wail emanating from her throat. Her male counterpart impulsively lunged upwards and clutched her torso into a tight bearhug so he could continue ramming their hips together. Annie felt her body start to go limp and her mind become dizzy as she let herself get lost in this bizarre blend of pain and pleasure.

Fuck she was tight. Armin could feel the walls of her vagina clench around him like a vice yet she was still slick enough that he could slide his plus-sized member out and repeatedly slam into her from below. All the while he was feeling the pressure in his crotch building up he could also tell his fingers were impulsively gripping her slender and surprisingly soft form harder. The only thing he could focus on right now was pleasuring himself and the girl bouncing in his lap.

However, a particularly hard thrust and almost-sob from his lover snapped him out of this hormonal trance he was in. The blond teen’s eyes went from dark and lustful to concerned in a single blink and he stopped his motions as soon as he next pulled out of her. “Annie! I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me. Are you okay?”

“Wuh, huh?” she responded loopily. If it were under different circumstances Armin might have laughed at her expression, but he was far more worried about her right now than he was amused. Annie then started to whimper and rub her soaking wet crotch along the length of his cock again. “Please, keep going,” she begged. She was nearly as out of it as he was. 

He suppressed his moans as best he could as he looked into her eyes. He saw craving and desperation in them. She did indeed want him to keep going. The Marleyan girl was actually enjoying this. Armin was shocked to say the least, he was surely afraid he had actually hurt her. Maybe Annie had some sort of masochistic side? It only made sense since she practically tortured herself with training and refused to interact with others.

Nevertheless, holding his rock hard penis in front of her hovering, dripping opening now, Armin was still apprehensive. Her vagina felt tight with just two of his fingers, how in Ymir’s name was he going to fit his cock in there over an extended period of time? He could feel his member throbbing against Annie’s folds. He wanted this so badly, but he also didn’t want to hurt her. The Survey soldier knew the woman above him was tough but could she handle this in an area so sensitive? Could she really keep this up for much longer?

An impatient huff left Annie’s lips as she pushed Armin back onto the bed and kissed him deeply. A thin trail of saliva left their mouths as she parted her head from his and said to him, “Arlert, stop overthinking everything and just do whatever you want to me. I can assure you I can handle it.” She could actually still feel her insides aching while she said this but it was a good kind of ache, and she wanted to feel it for as long as Armin was capable of giving it to her.

A newly confident expression crossed said young man’s face as he responded, “Yeah, sorry. I know you’re not frail in the slightest.”

“You’re damn right. And stop apologizing.”

“Sorry,” the taunting blond responded with a smirk.

“God shut up,” she retorted before kissing him again. If this was her way of getting him to shut up, Armin was more than happy to obey. 

“Seriously though,” he managed to get out between pecks. “I don’t want to hurt you too badly… _yet_. So I’ll start off more slowly this time, okay?”

Annie started to argue but a slight cramp shot through her lower abdomen in that moment and she winced a little. Maybe it _was_ a good idea to start off a bit slower after all. Her pussy made contact with the end of his dick again and both of them whimpered slightly. Armin looked at the girl atop him and her eyes answered that she was okay before she slowly sunk her entrance over his member, both of them moaning with every inch that plunged deeper.

His length was much more pleasurable now, and Annie took a moment to truly appreciate how good Armin’s length felt. He filled every bit of previously empty space and fit snug into her vaginal cavity. After Annie was used to the feeling of him being inside her, she slowly rose up, a deep exhale passed between the blonde’s teeth in the process. The Marleyan girl relished the friction between their genitalia as her bedmate’s shaft was pulled out and quickly slammed back into her. A cry mixed with pain and pleasure was released from her mouth and she repeated the motion, picking up in speed with each thrust of her hips.

By now Armin was moaning as well and he’d reached for her ass again, cusping her round cheeks as if keeping his hands busy was the only thing preventing him from going past his wit’s end. Any discomfort Annie was feeling was slowly melting away into elation as she continued racking her groin into his. God she loved this. She couldn’t help it as she started to gasp out loud, “Oh, Armin. ARMIN! Don’t stop! Mngh!”

He loved hearing his name come from her mouth, he wanted to make her say it over and over again until the day he died. He raised his head so he could mesh his lips with hers again for what seemed like the millionth time that night. The blond Scout didn’t care how many times he’d kissed her, he’d been waiting over four years for this opportunity and he was going to savor every second of it. Annie could barely keep her face connected to his since she was so focused on the ecstasy that was coming from her nether regions right now. Every few seconds she had to release her mouth from his because she had to gasp or moan whenever Armin’s dick pulsated or hit a particularly sensitive spot inside her.

As this was going on in Annie’s brain, she failed to notice how her Paradisian lover’s right hand was slowly creeping down along her butt until she felt a sudden jolting twinge in her backside. She yelped in a high pitch voice at the unexpected sensation and instinctively lurched her hips away from Armin’s groin. She gripped him harshly by the jaw and forced his shocked oceanic eyes to look into her fierce icy ones. “What the fuck was that, Arlert?!” she practically shouted at him.

“I-I’m sorry! It was purely impulsive I swear!” he stammered with his hands up in a surrendering position. He was fearful at Annie’s venomous gaze but at the same time he was… slightly turned on by it?

“Well you can’t just take me by surprise like that! I wasn’t ready at all!” her teeth grit together as she said this.

“But…” should he be testing her like this? His mind wasn’t exactly in the most cognitive place right now, which was made evident by his next line. “Aren’t you supposed to be ready for anything as a warrior like yourself?”

“That’s on the battlefield you idiot! Not when you’re making love with someone,” she threatened as she clenched his mandible tighter. Holy hell did she have a grip.

“Point taken,” he strained. At this Annie finally took mercy and released Armin’s face from her iron hold. The relieved young man rubbed his lower face as he said, “Sorry about that, Annie. I won’t do it again.”

Said girl suddenly looked away slightly, a hint of disappointment in her gaze. “I mean… I never said I didn’t like it,” she admitted as she fiddled her fingers together. In all honesty, she had to say looking back that it did feel good, if a bit painful at first. But wasn’t that what sex was supposed to be like in general?

Armin perked up at this bit of information. “Wait, wha-?”

“It just wasn’t expecting it is all. If you wanna stick your fingers in there, you can. Just… gimme a heads up first,” she said with more resolve this time.

“You got it,” the excited teen agreed as he and his Marleyan lover embraced again and returned to their previous positions. “I should know by now that you never turn down a challenge, Leonhart,” he teased at the girl above him.

“Just shut up and fuck me, Arlert,” the blonde retorted and kissed him before he could reply with another one of his smartass remarks. Annie inserted Armin’s cock back inside of her and they resumed where they left off, with outward cries and gasps coming from Annie and stifled moans coming from Armin. The strategic Scout’s hands again found themselves wandering down his blonde muse’s ass but this time he made sure he knew what they were doing.

His middle finger prodded at her rim gently and when she didn’t reject the motion, Armin carefully slid it in further. Annie gripped her lewd lover’s head as she moaned from this new sensation. After letting her get used to the feeling of his digit in her ass, Armin started to slowly pump his finger in and out similarly to how he’d done previously with her pussy. He could feel as Annie started to relax and her pleasured cries picked up in pace with the motions of his hand and hips. Thankfully she was already plenty lubed up from her foreplay earlier, so there wasn’t any harsh abrasion from his finger against her back entrance.

Annie couldn’t believe she was enjoying the feeling of both her holes being played with like this. Armin’s left hand had moved back up to her right breast and was playing with the sensitive pink nipple residing there, sending waves of ecstasy from both her upper and lower halves to her already aroused mind. The warrior girl could feel her vision start to blur as her eyes became hazy from elation, and she might have even forgotten about Armin had he not been the one pleasuring her in that moment. It also helped that he then brought his face up to her ear and whispered two words to her in a deep, husky voice, “Bend over, Annie.”

Hardly even thinking properly and getting even more turned on by her fellow blond’s demanding tone, she removed herself from Armin’s rock-hard member, reveling in the agonizing palpation of his length sliding along her sensitive vaginal walls in the process of doing so. She felt herself dripping uncontrollably as she and Armin switched positions, sinking her torso into the mattress and presenting her ass to him in anticipation.

Armin smirked darkly as he lowered his back onto hers and positioned his eager cock over her entrance. Seeing Annie’s exposed delicacies on full display for him like this was probably one of the most glorious things he’d ever seen, right up there with seeing the ocean for the first time. Both sights were about as wet, anyway. He could feel her shuddering underneath him, her muscles surely sore from being used and stimulated so much. “Good girl,” he whispered into her ear again before he plunged his raging boner into her pussy, a sloppy wet sound resulting from the motion.

Annie screamed into the pillow as she clutched the bedsheets, trying to control herself in any way possible as her lascivious lover pulverized her reproductive organs ruthlessly. Being pleasured by Armin like this made the formerly stone-cold young woman feel more alive now than she ever has before. How could she have denied herself this for so long? The warrior girl wished she could travel back in time to slap some sense into her past self, tell her to forget the mission and just get together with the wimpy-looking blond boy back while they were still at the academy. It sure would’ve saved her a lot of trouble.

Armin was having similar thoughts himself as he gripped his wailing lover’s waist and slammed his hips into hers. He wished more than anything that he’d been more aware of his own feelings a long time ago and been more upfront with Annie about them from the start. Maybe he could’ve prevented a lot of misfortune on both their ends if he had. He eventually came to the conclusion that none of it mattered now. What’s done is done, and the only thing either of them could do is be grateful that they’re here now and have the chance to be together like this at all.

The blond Eldian peered down at what he was currently doing to the only part of Annie he could consider delicate, and was entranced by the rhythm of her rear-end smacking against his groin. A sinister smirk crossed his features as he raised his right hand and smacked it against her ass with a resounding slap. The already hypersensitive girl below him cried out before burying her face into the pillow again. The sadistic Scout took pride in the red palm-shaped mark forming on her cheek, he was beyond thankful that Annie allowed him to release his pent up tension on her like this. In fact, she seemed to _want_ him to do just that.

The young Survey member took notice of his lover’s puckered pink asshole and saw how it winked at him, as if it was beckoning to be played with some more. A cruel gleam shone in the young man’s eyes as he slobbered over his right thumb before shoving the digit into her anus as deeply as he could. The warrior’s eyes snapped open and her head shot up as a garbled scream wretched from her throat. Armin wasn’t finished. While still thrusting his hips he brought his left hand over her left leg and fumbled his fingers around until he found her still-throbbing clit at the top of her vulva and began rubbing it viciously.

If Annie wasn’t feeling pushed over the edge before, she definitely was now. Her face scrunched up, trying not to be overwhelmed by all these sensations of pleasure, but she was clearly fighting a losing battle here. All she could do while her lover sent her into ecstasy was squirm under his grasp and wonder how he could possibly be so good with his hands. It wasn’t fair. God this felt amazing, she finally understood what all the fuss was about when it came to sex. Though she was pretty sure she also happened to get lucky in having Armin as a partner and not some random Joe off the street who probably didn’t know the first thing about pleasing a woman.

Both hormonal teenagers were beginning to feel a buildup forming deep in the pits of their centers. As sexy as this position was, this wasn’t how Armin wanted to finish. He wanted to see her face as both of them peaked. His thrusts slowed until he stopped completely and removed himself from Annie’s soaking privates. She whimpered at the lack of touch she was now receiving after he exited, she was so close to getting off again. 

Thankfully she didn’t have to wait very long to get attention from her dashing prince again. Shortly after removing himself from her, he bent down next to her ear and whispered in a manner that sent tingles down her spine, “Roll onto your back, baby.” Annie did as she was told and laid her back onto the mattress, looking up at Armin with what she could only guess was a desperate expression. Somehow he looked even _more_ handsome and sexy from this position. The way he gazed down at her with that alluring yet loving look on his face coupled with the shadows outlining his features just right made her blush yet again. She felt like she had to look away, despite the fact she’d literally shown him the most sacred parts of herself only a few seconds earlier.

The blonde Marleyan felt a gentle touch grasp the end of her chin and draw her face back to the owner of the hand directing her. Armin offered her the most caring smile he could muster and Annie couldn’t help but return a small one herself. It was like his smiles were infectious. She felt the fingers that were just on her chin rise to brush a few stray strands of hair from her line of sight to behind her ear, then continue downward to caress her reddened cheek. She adored the way he touched her face with such tenderness. It made her feel so safe and secure and she never wanted him to let go.

Armin finished this gesture off by taking her lips in his. Annie wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to get him as close to her as she possibly could. She wrangled her tongue with his and allowed herself to indulge in his taste. They would have happily suffocated in each other’s mouths had their lungs not demanded they break for air. When they parted, they took this time to peer into each others’ eyes. Armin’s were absolutely captivating to Annie, and he in turn admired how much emotion he was finally able to see in her beautiful irises. The blond teen couldn’t recall a time when he’d ever seen Annie’s eyes look so deep before.

His eyes eventually trailed downward and stopped at her luscious breasts, where the usually stoic girl became self-conscious again and tried covering her chest. “I know they’re not much to look at…” she deprecated. “My boobs aren’t nearly as big as other girls’.”

“No,” Armin disagreed as he removed Annie’s hands from her bosom and lowered his head towards it. “They’re perfect,” he told her as he took one of her nipples into his mouth and his fingers played with the other. Annie stifled a moan and fidgeted in place a little to try and take in this twinge of pleasure. Armin’s blue eyes peered up to look at his lover’s face and found himself rather amused. Annie looked so cute when she reacted like that.

He eventually released his mouth from his Marleyan muse’s breast and kissed her again, though not for nearly as long this time. Annie spread her legs to let Armin get a good look at her glistening delicacies before reaching both her hands up to grasp the sides of his face. She gazed up at him with pleading eyes and said, “Armin, please just make me forget about everything.” Said blond’s eyes widened slightly at this request. “My past, my mission, everyone who’s died, Eren, all of it. I want you to make all of it go away for tonight. Fill me with so much pleasure that I can’t feel the pain anymore.”

He looked down at the panting, fractured girl below her sympathetically and said, “I’ll do what I can.” He captured her lips again so she could moan into his mouth as he inserted himself into her. He raised himself back up, his hands held securely around her knees and his member completely embedded in her entrance. “I promise I’ll never stop trying to help you recover, Annie,” he told her as sincerely as he could.

She smiled back at him genuinely, and even in his love-drunk state Armin couldn’t help but notice the tears that formed in Annie’s beautiful crystal blue eyes. “I promise to do the same for you,” she assured him in return. Ocean orbits shone in response and lips made contact once more. Armin couldn’t believe how emotional the formerly aloof girl he was currently making love to was being in this moment.

Was it the sex that caused her to let all this out? The strategist supposed Annie had also become a lot more open with her feelings in general since her breakdown about her father’s likely death. It was as if it finally caused all the walls she’d built up around herself to come crumbling down and expose to everyone that inside her tough exterior she really was just a scared, confused person who wanted to return home. While he still felt bad about it, he was glad that it allowed her to finally be more expressive, at least towards him. From what he gathered through the few discussions the lion-hearted girl had with him on the subject, it didn’t seem like her dad was all that great of a guy anyway.

He believed Annie one-hundred percent when she gave him her promise just now, Armin knew that when she made an oath she’d commit herself to it completely. Even when things weren’t easy, she would try just as hard as him to make the other as happy as they could. The Paradis native couldn’t wait to think about the possibilities his future had with the woman of his dreams, but the only thing he wanted to focus on now was bringing both of them to climax.

Before Annie could notice that he’d been thinking to himself, Armin started moving his hips back and forth again, causing the blonde girl to involuntarily cry out at the sensation between her legs. “Mm, fuck Armin, _yes_!” she howled. What a good position. She hoped she’d never get used to this, it just felt so damn good. Deciding not to let him be the only one to provide torturous ecstasy, the competitive girl clenched her vaginal muscles as tightly as she could while he was still inside her and got a surprised but pleasured exclaim from the blond boy.

Annie didn’t get to revel in this for long, however, as mere moments after she pulled that stunt, she was hit with a particularly sharp upwards thrust from Armin’s cock. She could feel her cervix being prodded and it was a feeling she could never have anticipated. It was painful but it released some sort of bliss with it too, like a knot in a muscle that was being massaged. Her head rolled back as a strained gasp erupted from her mouth. She wouldn’t be surprised if a protrusion from her abdomen could have been seen in that moment thanks to Armin’s dirty little motion.

Annie recovered enough from this sudden reverberation to glare with only some venom into his mischievous eyes. He was definitely fully aware of what he’d just done and Annie couldn’t keep herself from biting her lower lip in arousal. She loved this dominant side of him. “That was cruel, Arlert.”

“You brought it on yourself,” he retorted playfully. “You gotta serve your punishment when you step out of line.”

“Mm, is that so? Well then why don’t you punish me more, sir? I have been a very naughty girl, after all,” Annie offered in a sultry manner as she tried to position her body and facial expression as seductively as she could.

So she wanted him to be rough with her, huh? The typically sweet blond boy grinned sadistically as he took hold of both Annie’s hands and held them above her head. His other hand clutched her throat and his hips plunged as deeply into her as he could. Sputtery gasps and moans came from the blonde girl in Armin’s clutches as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she struggled a little to breathe. _Yes_. This was what she wanted. For him to just completely fuck her brains out until she couldn’t think anymore.

The blond scholar became entranced in seeing the typically always dominant Annie in such a submissive position. He could almost feel a hypnotic effect on his mind as he watched her breasts bounce in matching rhythm with the thrusts he made into her pussy. God she was so beautiful. How could such a magnificent being such as her even exist? If there were any doubts about his feelings for her before, they were all pounded away with every hump Armin made into Annie’s entrance.

He was absolutely enthralled by her. Everything from the way her eyes glistened with pleasured tears, how her saliva pooled slightly at the corner of her mouth when she was aroused, how her eyebrows furrowed when trying to comprehend this stimulation, how her nipples perked up when he so much as breathed on them, how her abs shuddered as he rearranged her guts, how her blonde pubic hairs blended into his own whenever they connected so it just looked like one massive golden bush, all of it. He was without a doubt in love with this woman and he thanked whatever deity there might be out there that he was lucky enough to be sharing this moment with her right now.

After a few more thrusts for good measure, Armin released his hold on Annie’s neck and hands. She gasped for air but wasn’t spared from the Scout’s continued momentum into her vagina. “Y’know,” she managed to say between pumps, “I must say I’m impressed, Arlert. Who would’ve thought the class weakling would one day have the mighty top combatant of the class wallowing at his mercy?”

Armin laughed in a panting manner. The exertion of bumping uglies with her for so long was starting to wear him down too. “It was only in my dirtiest dreams that I thought it’d be possible,” he admitted to his fellow 104th cadet as another outcry came from her.

“You aren’t scared of me or what I could do to you?” Annie asked with a fatigued huff. Both of them were sweating now, with beads rolling down the blonde woman’s face and torso and droplets threatening to fall from the Eldian man’s nose and forehead.

“I’ve never been afraid of you, Annie,” Armin told her as he started kissing down her neck. She tasted salty and musky, it drove his senses crazy.

Said girl stifled her moans at this gesture as she continued. “I could very easily walk out this door right now and leave you blue-balled and brokenhearted if I wanted to. And you couldn’t do anything to stop me.” Though Annie also knew that Armin would never force her to do anything even if he was capable of doing so. She was just saying this to try and get under his skin, she didn’t want to give off the idea that this would be _too_ easy for him, after all. 

Unfortunately for her, this tactic didn’t seem to work all too well, as his next words were just as calm and collected as they usually were. “I know you could,” the Survey soldier agreed as his lips pressed onto her clavicle tenderly.

Previously unshed tears now threatened to spill from Annie’s eyes again as her blush continued to take over her face. There was that buildup in her groin again. “So then why are you still doing this with me?” The once apathetic girl now couldn’t help but ask her partner this as her insecurities made their way out from the deepest pit in her soul and exposed themselves in front of Armin just as she was doing right now with her physical body. She was feeling dizzy from elation and not entirely thinking straight at this point.

“Because you and I both know that you have no intentions of leaving,” he whispered to her in a low, husky voice that Annie had never heard him make before. Before she could reply he bit down on her right nipple and the resulting jolt sent the warrior girl’s shoulders lurching forward as a gasp escaped her lips. Caught off guard again. He was the only one who could make her lose focus like this. But, she didn’t seem to mind it. She admired how she could never truly predict what this Eldian boy was capable of.

Annie lost her voice again as Armin started relentlessly pounding into her. He was going to give this woman as much passion tonight as he could. The dominant blond tormented his moaning victim further by taking his right thumb and rubbing her stimulated clitoris with it, spectating with sadistic glee as she wailed and writhed back and forth uncontrollably from the overwhelming rush of pleasure.

Both of them were so vulgar, and the hormonal-crazed young man loved it. He knew that if they were to be together from now on that bedroom problems would not be something either of them would have to worry about when it came to their relationship. The Eldian relished in Annie’s face and vocal outbursts when he started plunging himself harder and faster inside of her. He’d never stop making love to her if he could.

“Oh Annie,” he moaned before enrapturing her mouth with his. She responded by wrapping her arms around his well-toned back so she could feel his body as much as possible while he pounded into her. “You feel so good,” the blond Eldian mumbled between her neck and shoulder, and Annie rubbed the side of her head against his.

“Ngh, Armin, so do you,” she moaned as her teeth took hold of his ear. The blonde woman felt her lover’s hand caress down her arm until his fingers reached her palm. She took this as a sign from him and she maneuvered his hand the rest of the way until their fingers intertwined. Annie felt him squeeze her hand tightly but lovingly and she responded in kind. The blonde combatant moaned as her suitor kissed the side of her neck again and continued humping her. She could tell he was getting close now, just as she was. Her hands left his and clung to his back again, while his own hands came to rest on the sides of her head.

The blonde Titan Shifters looked each other in the eyes, nothing but love and admiration for one another to be found in their orbits. Armin was the first to say something as his thrusts picked up in speed and intensity. “Annie, I… I’m gonna…”

She already knew what he was going to say. “Me too Armin,” she panted. “Don’t stop, keep going!” Said young man complied as he doubled his efforts, wanting to end things with, quite literally, a bang. 

He faintly heard Annie cry out “Yes! YES! _YES_!” as he got lost in his own ecstasy and barely registered her clawing his back. Adrenaline was rushing through the two lovers’ veins as they connected over and over for one last push. With their foreheads pressed together affectionately and one final powerful thrust from both of them, the blondes were sent careening over the edge with one another, crying out together with their insync climax. In that moment they could both feel the Earth shake and they were pretty sure it wasn’t from the Rumbling.

Armin’s face tucked between Annie’s neck and shoulder while his hands gripped the bedsheets until his knuckles turned white, trying to stabilize himself as best he could while he felt the massive release of pressure from his crotch shoot deep into her most privy of places. Annie in turn felt that similar pulse of ecstasy from earlier wrack through her entire body again, except somehow even stronger this time as she felt her lover’s thick, warm seed pour deep into her sacred, formerly untainted hole.

The two shifters sealed their bond as they rode out their orgasms together, muscles more tense now than either of them could ever remember being before. Armin’s member pumped into Annie’s womb a few more times before both collapsed onto the creaky mattress together. As the Eldian man on top tried to catch his breath for a few moments, he felt a shaky, fatigued hand come up and wipe away the strands of golden bangs that had stuck to his sweaty forehead.

Almost forgetting where he was for a split second, he looked into the lustrous sky blue eyes of Annie and saw that she was smiling at him despite her current weariness. He smiled in turn with a mix of sympathy, pride, gratitude and, of course, love. The young Scout kissed the tip of Annie’s pronounced Roman nose, and he reveled in the small girlish giggle he got in response from the woman he was so used to seeing act closed off from everyone, proud that he was the only one who got to witness her wonderful expressive and vulnerable side.

That was when he realized he was still inside of her. A light blush dawned the blond boy’s cheeks as he slowly slid his length out from her moist crevice. Both hypersensitive teens groaned as every inch was tugged on until the tip of Armin’s now semi-flaccid phallus was released with a muffled, sloppy popping sound. The two soldiers gasped and held themselves upright for a second before flopping onto each other again.

“That was…” Armin started before trailing off, his currently aberrant mind not capable of coming up with the right word in the moment for once.

“Amazing,” Annie finished for him as she looked back towards his handsome face. “That was… amazing.”

The blond teen smiled as he twirled some of her silky platinum hair in his fingers. “Yes… Yes it was,” he agreed tiredly as he dropped his head back onto the pillow and his arm around her shoulders. The bunker grew quiet again for a few moments aside from their heavy breathing.

“Hey Armin,” a slightly trembling Annie suddenly managed to say in between exhausted huffs.

“Yeah?” he asked, caught somewhat off-guard.

“I definitely think I can say that you’ve earned my forgiveness now.” Soon laughter filled the room from both lovers as Armin embraced Annie and pecked her face with smooches. God he was so in love with her, he didn’t realize it was even possible to love someone this much. Eventually the laughter died down again and the blonde duo lied together peacefully for a while, just basking in the afterglow of their little event and listening to the tranquility of their synced breaths.

The Eldian teen peered down at the beautiful girl he held in his arms while her own wrapped comfortably around his torso with her head rested just below his chin and into the crook of his neck and chest. Armin might’ve just been imagining it from the delirious, euphoric mindset he was currently in, but as he admired his female counterpart he could’ve sworn he saw steam rising up from both of their bodies. Had they really been going at it so hard that their Titan regeneration powers needed to be triggered? Damn, he was admittedly impressed by it, but also concerned that if neither of them had these abilities then it would’ve taken them a lot longer to recover than he preferred. Eventually the strategist supposed he should be somewhat grateful that he and his girlfriend were able to fuck how they wanted to without worrying about lasting effects.

Wait. What did he just refer to her as? Could he truly say that they were more than friends now? That’s all they’d been for so long that it felt surreal for it to not be the case anymore. He looked at the Marleyan woman’s relaxed facial features and a content smile crossed his face as well. Yeah. He was pretty sure they were far beyond simply being friends at this point. He sighed happily and Annie looked up at him with curious ice-blue eyes. “What is it?” she asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he waved off. “Just admiring how pretty you are is all.”

Annie rolled over so her voluptuous chest was now pressed onto his firm one. He tried to suppress his blush as she rested her chin on the back of her hands and stared at him like a cat. She spoke to him in an almost interrogating way, “I’m not buying it, Arlert. I know when there’s something on your mind. You can’t bullshit to me, remember? So spill it.”

The Shiganshina boy chuckled slightly as he gave in. “Okay, okay. I was just wondering what… you know… _we_ are now. Like, are we a thing? Does this mean we’re officially together or was this just a fling you wanted to do with me because you were in the mood to?”

“I almost feel like I should be hurt by you daring to think of me as being so shallow, Armin,” she prodded, earning an apologetic look from her blond Romeo.

“Oh no no no, that’s not what I meant at all!” he insisted, but all he got in return was a bemused yet understanding hummed laugh from the woman atop his torso.

“I know,” she told him. “Because I know that you just have a tendency to overthink things and want clarity with anything that you don’t entirely understand. I get it. I think it’s cute that you’re like that.” Armin tried to ignore the heat that was growing on his cheeks. How could he do such lewd activities with this girl yet still find himself flustered in front of her just because she was flirting with him? Damn, he really did he have it bad for her. “Just to settle that overworked mind of yours, yes, we are in a relationship now. I wouldn’t do this with you otherwise, idiot.” She flicked his nose with her pointer finger and Armin laughed jovially as he hugged her against him tightly, happy that he could officially call himself and Annie an item. It was what he’d been dreaming of for four years now.

“Thanks, Annie,” he said gratefully. “I appreciate how well you understand me.”

“Likewise,” she responded curtly. “Though I still hope you also aren’t shallow enough to just ditch me to the curb now that you’ve gotten what you wanted from me,” she followed in an almost accusatory manner.

“Well then it’s a good thing this isn’t even close to everything I want from you,” he replied as he kissed the forehead of his beloved and cradled her impossibly closer. Annie blushed to herself as Armin held her and she stroked his chest affectionately. Is this what it felt like to actually be loved by someone? To have them not merely think of you as a tool for their own personal gain nor want anything from you aside from your time simply because they value you as a person?

She was so used to being practically neglected by her father that she was, to say the least, very inexperienced with recognizing this feeling. The only time she could actually recall him even touching her in a non-combative way was the day she had to leave for Paradis and he broke down apologizing to her. It was the best the young girl had felt in her entire life until now, and it was minuscule compared to how Armin made her feel just a few minutes ago.

Looking back on it, the warrior woman was beginning to feel jaded with that bit of last minute affection from her father. Why had she been so eager to get back to Marley for _that_? Annie was initially apprehensive about the thought of someone caring about her other than herself, but the more Armin held her in his warm, comforting arms, the more blissful she became, and decided that she liked this far more instead of whatever “love” her father had previously shown her. She hugged him back tighter and snuggled into his torso, never wanting this tenderness to end.

Noticing that his lover had gone quiet for a while, Armin looked down at Annie and saw her face looking contemplative rather than content. “Okay, now it’s my turn to ask what’s on _your_ mind,” he inquired politely as he stroked his thumb along his fair maiden’s upper arm.

The former warrior sunk her head further into her lover’s embrace as she said solemnly, “I was just thinking about my past is all. Mostly about my father and how he treated me growing up and comparing it to how you’re treating me now.”

Armin winced at this. He was reminded of earlier that day in the Captain’s quarters when she broke down sobbing in front of everyone once Hange had told her that Mr. Leonhart was probably gone along with her hometown. “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you before that I’m sorry about your father, Annie,” he apologized out of courteousness of her feelings more than anything. “I know he wasn’t the best parent or anything but he was clearly important to you. I felt terrible seeing you so broken about his death, if I wasn’t just shot in the face I would’ve done more to help you feel better.”

“Don’t worry about it, Arlert. How I feel isn’t your responsibility.”

“It is now if we truly are together. I meant it when I said that I’d do everything in my power to help you recover. That includes comforting you over the death of loved ones,” he reminded her affirmably.

Annie smiled at him. “You’re too sweet, Armin.” She pondered to herself for a second before speaking again. “Actually, there is something you could do for me,” she told him. He peered at her with bewildered eyes and she knew with that look he was ready to do anything to cater to her right now, be it the smallest or most ridiculous request. It was one of the things she loved about him. “Do you think you can… listen?”

The Scout raised a curious eyebrow. “To what, exactly?”

“To me. About myself. My story up until I arrived on Paradis for my mission.”

Armin couldn’t hide the shocked expression that crossed his face at this. He was curious of course but he knew that Annie’s past was a touchy subject for her. Pushing her into doing something that might trigger harmful flashbacks was the last thing he wanted to do. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” he offered considerately.

Annie shook her head. “No, do I want to. I feel like this is something I need to get off my chest. Something I’ve needed to vent about for a long time.” The Female Titan Shifter settled back down into Armin’s warm torso and began her memoir. “Reiner and Bertholdt, and I guess now you and Hitch to some degree, are the only ones who really know anything about my less-than-cushy history, but I haven’t ever told anyone a more in-depth perspective about myself until now.” A faltering breath exhaled from her lungs, and Armin must have noticed, because of course he did, and he started stroking her hair comfortingly. This simple act of affection gave Annie the resolve to keep going.

“I was basically doomed for a difficult existence the moment I was conceived. My Marleyan mother had an affair with an Eldian outcast, and after I was born, she was forced to have me deported to an internment zone, where the man I call my father adopted me. You might think what he did was a noble act, but he made it pretty clear early on that he had ulterior motives. He spent the rest of my life treating me like a ticket to a life of luxury more than he did an actual daughter. He didn’t even want me to become part of the Warrior Program for the ‘noble cause’ of the empire, it was just so he didn’t have to work another day in his life. He _used_ me, Armin. He abused and manipulated me so that he could be a rich piece of shit instead of a poor one.”

Annie could feel her fingernails digging into her own palms as she relived her trauma in front of the only person in the world she trusted enough to open up to. “I was nothing but a tool for him to beat on and shape into this perfect child soldier without ever considering what I wanted or how I felt. Sometimes I wasn’t even allowed to have dinner if I didn’t perfect everything he forced me to do during training. I couldn’t tell you how many times I cried myself to sleep because of the pain in my arms and legs. My life was nothing but an arduous training course. For years it was just me and that man together in a cold, secluded cabin where no one could interrupt his combat with me.”

Tears were brimming at the corners of her eyes now, but she shut her lids tightly and forced herself to keep going. “I wasn’t even allowed to interact with other kids my age until I left for the military, and by then I was so emotionally damaged that there was no way I could ever hope to make friends. That man would wail on me until I was physically incapable of standing up anymore, and then he’d splash a bucket of ice water in my face and force me to get up and continue in a cruel repeating cycle. I hated him. I hated him so much for so many years. He… he…”

A shushing sound wafted into Annie’s ears as she relaxed muscles that she didn’t even realize had tensed up. She opened her eyes to the sight of Armin pressing his face against her head and trying to console her. He wiped the freshly fallen streams of tears from her cheek and looked at her with intense but caring irises. “It’s okay, Annie. I’m here for you now. You don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

He placed a tender kiss on her forehead and his hand rubbed her back soothingly. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that, Armin,” she replied shakily.

Said blond smiled at her sympathetically. “You don’t have to keep going if this is too painful for you.”

“I’m fine, I’ve dealt with far worse than telling a heartbreaking story,” the strong-willed young woman countered before continuing. “Honestly, the best day of my life was the day I finally became stronger than my father. I broke both of that selfish bastard’s legs during training and spat on his face without a single regret. Every time I saw him limping around the cabin I internally beamed with pride. He’d get his wealth alright, but it was gonna come at a price. He had no power over me anymore, at this point I just stuck around to show him that he was nothing without me.”

Armin couldn’t have suppressed the prideful slight upturn of his lips even if he wanted to. He knew he was being petty towards someone he’d never even met but it truly was the least her father deserved. A soft kiss of approval was planted on Annie’s temple before she spoke again. “Apparently at some point during my recruitment of the Marleyan military he’d gained some sort of conscience, because the day I had to leave for your island I dropped by to pack up my belongings and rub salt in his wound one last time, and that was when he embraced me affectionately for the first and only time. I remember not even knowing how to react because I was so unused to this type of contact, and I ended up not saying a single word as he broke down apologizing to me and showing an emotion other than anger and dissatisfaction for once.”

The smile on Armin’s face disappeared. He was beginning to understand now why Annie had been so eager to get back to Marley before. The only person in her life that she had ever wanted to impress had finally shown devotion and pride in her, and it must have been such a relief to finally receive it from him that she’d do anything to get back to him and experience that feeling again even after the years of abuse. Though, would Mr. Leonhart have actually continued to be caring towards Annie or would he have gone back to his harsh, neglectful ways? The blonde brainiac wasn’t entirely sure, but he did know how difficult it was for one to completely change their behavior, and he didn’t really get the vibe that her father would actually have treated her the way she deserved and needed to be even if he had owned up to his mistakes.

“He said he’d always be on my side even when the world was against me, though I don’t know where that mentality was during the entire decade he’d raised me but whatever. He made me promise that I’d survive no matter what so I could get back to him, and in the moment I couldn’t find it in myself to deny him this request. So I promised that to him right before heading back to the capital. The last time I saw him was later that day when our boat had taken off for Paradis and he stood in the crowd that waved us goodbye. Even with this new personal goal of mine, a part of me still couldn’t help but think ‘good riddance’ as we floated away, glad I didn’t have to see that man again for years. And you know how the rest of the story went.”

A heavy silence filled the bedroom for a few moments before Armin found his voice again. “Annie, I’m… I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t pity me, Arlert. What’s done is done, I can’t change what happened now.”

“That doesn’t mean it didn’t and still doesn’t matter or affect you right now. You have every right to feel contempt and hurt from this. You never asked to become a soldier just so your father could abuse you and live carefree. You didn’t deserve any of it. How could someone possibly live with themselves after doing that to a _child_? No wonder he broke down in front of you like that.”

Annie went quiet for a minute before she began monologuing again. “For so long all I’d wanted was to get back to him, but honestly I’m not even entirely sure what I would’ve done when I did. It’s not like there wasn’t history between us that even all the money in the world could erase. Not to mention I wouldn’t have very many years left with him due to the curse anyway. In hindsight I’m not sure why I wanted to return to Marley just so I could get back to _him_ so badly. I’d made way closer companionships hundreds of miles away on that island than I ever did back home.”

Armin hoped that she was referring to him specifically, though he also admitted to himself that it was probably a little selfish to think that. “He’s probably gone now anyway so there’s really no reason for me to keep caring about him or what he wants anymore. Even if he wasn’t dead, I don’t feel like I would have any obligations to go back to him. Not since you’ve shown me what actual love and affection is like.”

The blond Eldian offered his Marleyan muse a sympathetic look. It was sad that he was the first one to give this beautiful young woman any true source of care in her life up to this point, but at the same time he was glad that he had the privilege of being able to hold that title. “Hell, I apparently wasn’t even as concerned to get back to him as I thought, even before all this Rumbling shit. I spared your life despite the threat you were of keeping me from completing my mission. If I really did want to go home, I would’ve eliminated you too, but I didn’t. I’m not even sure if it was entirely my feelings for you at the time. It might’ve been my subconscious asking myself if killing you was really worth getting back to him, and ultimately I decided it wasn’t.”

Armin laughed at this new revelation. “Well then I guess I have your father to thank for indirectly saving my life as well,” he joked, earning a small smile from his beloved in response.

“Yeah. In a bizarre way I suppose you do,” she murmured.

A frown made its way onto Armin’s face. “But that still doesn’t excuse how he treated you in the slightest.”

“Armin, it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not fine, Annie. He did potentially irreparable damage to you both physically and emotionally. No amount of Titan powers can help you recover from trauma like that.” 

Annie went mute for a few seconds before responding quietly, “Are you saying I’m not strong enough to overcome my problems?”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all. Not even someone as strong as you could be completely resolved after years of abuse from a caretaker like that. I fully believe you're more than capable of conquering your demons, but it isn’t something you can do without some help. You don’t have to do everything alone, Annie.”

Said girl drooped her eyelids. “I’ve always had to do everything on my own. I was taught at an early age that I couldn't rely on anyone but myself,” she said more to herself than to Armin.

“Well you don’t need to anymore. From now on I’ll be there whenever you need someone to lean on, whether you like it or not,” the sympathetic Eldian assured her as he held her tighter.

She clung to his shoulders. “I can’t believe you’re so willing to forgive a traitor,” she whispered. “Us Marleyans have treated you and people like you worse than the dirt under our boots yet you’re still so kind to me.”

“I don’t judge people based on their background, Annie,” he told her in a serious but kind tone. “I judge them based on their character, and you have one of the most admirable ones I’ve come across.” The blonde warrior couldn’t bring herself to look into her voluntary therapist's determined ocean eyes or she feared her resolve might crumble. “Who the fuck cares what your origins are? What truly matters is how you work to better yourself and what you make out of your life, and you seem to have those good traits in spades.”

Annie snickered to herself. “Wow, the rare cuss word from Armin Arlert. I’ll have to take a snapshot of this moment.” She truly had not expected the usually meek boy to say something so expletive, she couldn’t really remember a time when he’d said that before.

“What can I say? You’ve had quite the influence on me, Miss Leonhart,” he joked back. “Seriously though, I’m sorry if it hurts you to hear this from me but I truly hope your father’s dead. I don’t care how much he apologized, he couldn’t ever make up for the years of abuse he gave you for nothing more than selfish reasons. He doesn’t deserve to live, no one is allowed to treat you like that. He’s just lucky I never got to meet him, who knows if I would’ve been able to control myself from crippling him all over again.”

Annie looked up at her new boyfriend with signs of shock on her face. She had never heard Armin say something so aggressive before. He really had changed in some ways while she was gone. On the one hand she was a little sad that the world had hardened the once bright-eyed boy she knew, but on the other the way he got so protective over her was honestly flattering. She liked knowing he cared this much about her, and wanted to see this fiery side of the usually passive teen more often. The blonde girl snuggled her head into his chest to settle his rising temper as she said, “I appreciate that, Armin. But I'm a big girl, I can stand up for myself. You can just be the one to come up with the strategy on how I should go about fighting my personal conflicts, okay?”

The young Scout chuckled. “Yeah, we’ll be the ultimate battle couple! With my brains and your fighting skills, there’s no empire in the the world that could stop us!” He held up his fist in an overly victorious manner and Annie couldn’t help but laugh along with him. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed this much at one time. Probably never, she realized. It felt good to genuinely laugh, she hoped Armin could keep making her do it as time went on, he seemed to be a natural at it.

“Of course, us being literally untouchable Titans also helps with that,” she quipped with a small but playful grin on her face.

“Very true,” Armin retorted as he planted another kiss on his bedmate’s forehead. A few moments of the two blondes just cuddling together in silence passed until Armin stated, “Y’know, despite all the hardships you’ve been through, I don’t think I’d change anything about your past. It shows how strong you were in overcoming your difficult times and made you who you are now. And I love you for who you are, scars and all.”

Annie stared at the young man holding her with wider eyes than he’d ever seen from her. “W-what did you just say?” she asked him softly.

Oh shit. What _did_ he just say? Beads of sweat started forming on the sides of Armin’s head as he realized the gravity of the words he’d just accidentally confessed to the woman of his dreams. “I… I love you,” he finally managed to say after collecting his thoughts. A fierce blush dawned his face but he didn’t falter, he meant what he said and he didn’t regret confessing to her at all. “I-if you don’t feel the same way I completely understand. I just wanted to let you know that’s how I feel about you.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just…” Annie struggled to find the right words to say. She felt reminded of their little conversation on the deck earlier that day as her cheeks flushed again. “I just don’t get how anyone could possibly love someone like me…”

“I already told you why, Annie. Don’t you remember?”

“I do, but that still doesn’t mean I fully understand how you could even see all those features in me at all to begin with.” Her eyes hid behind her golden bangs. “I’m so damaged, Armin. Who knows if I’ll ever truly be fixed. I don’t want anyone, most of all you, to have to put up with me and my issues every single day. Like you said, I can’t get better without some serious help and I don’t want to force you to be the one to do that for me, even if we are together now,” she told him in an unstable voice.

“You wouldn’t be forcing me if I was the one who wanted to help you,” he reassured her as he held her hand supportively. Not letting go of his gentle hold, the Marleyan girl lowered herself back onto her lover’s chest and tried comprehending his words.

Armin fiddled with the silver ring on Annie’s pointer finger as he waited for her to say something. “Did you mean what you said earlier?” she tentatively asked him. “That you didn’t talk to other girls because you only wanted to see me?”

The blond strategist stopped playing with his girlfriend’s ring at this question and looked at her almost incredulously. “Of course I did. Annie, you’re the only one I’ve ever even considered potentially being with romantically. No one else has even come close to captivating me the way you do,” he told her with all the sincerity he could possibly express.

She clutched his arm tighter. “Promise?”

“I swear on my life,” he swore as he crossed an X over his heart in a cheesy manner. 

That managed to elicit a huffed laugh from Annie’s mouth as she shook her head. “You’re such a dork,” she told him bluntly.

“Yeah, but I’m your dork,” he noted to her out loud as he cupped her chin and kissed her lips.

“And I couldn’t be happier about that,” she replied as she curled up into her solace’s warm figure. He responded in kind and wrapped his legs around hers as he held her close. Annie started stroking Armin’s back and a sharp exhale came from the Scout. “What is it?” the blonde woman asked with concern etched into her voice.

“Oh nothing, it’s just…” How did he want to say this? “That’s where you scratched me when we were… you know…” he trailed off.

“… Oh,” was the only thing the warrior could think to say. Damn she must’ve cut him deep if his Titan regeneration still hadn’t healed it yet. “Sorry about that,” she said as she rubbed his back again, much more softly this time.

Armin laughed slightly. “It’s okay, I didn’t really feel it in the moment anyway.”

Annie smirked. “If it makes you feel better, I’m still sore down there from earlier, too,” she admitted to lighten the mood a little more.

“Well then I guess that makes us even,” the blond boy responded with another chortle of playful laughter.

“Hey Armin,” the former enemy turned lover interrupted.

“Yeah?” the blondest member of the Survey Corps asked.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For just being you. You’ve never once tried to be someone around me that you're not and you’ve always accepted me for who I am. So thank you for that.”

Armin smiled fondly at Annie’s honesty. “You don’t have to thank me for that. It’s how you should be treated anyway,” he responded humbly.

“Well I feel like I do, and I did. Hardly anyone else has been as courteous to me as you and you deserve to be acknowledged for it. And now you can’t do anything to make me take it back, so take that,” she retorted as her finger poked his chest teasingly. Another snicker escaped the Scout’s mouth, he never would’ve thought Annie was this witty and mirthful until tonight. Once he’d settled down again, the blonde girl continued. “Y'know, even though my mission to Paradis was far from easy, or what I wanted initially, I’m glad I ended up being recruited to go.”

Armin looked at her with quizzical and hopeful eyes. “And why’s that?”

Annie smiled at him sweetly. “Because I got to meet you, dummy,” she confessed as she kissed his nose. “You alone were worth all the hardships that came with the island. It was like you were the thing I’d needed most in my life and I didn’t even know until you came into it.”

The Eldian teen beamed at this revelation. He couldn’t believe that he meant this much to her, it absolutely elated him. “Yeah, me too,” he agreed. “Just think, if even the slightest different circumstances had occurred then we never would have even met. It’s crazy when you think about it. It’s almost as if it was destiny for us to meet.”

Annie stared at the ceiling as her lover spoke. Destiny? Is that what it was? Had everything in her life really occurred for a purpose she wasn’t even aware of? Was it all truly so she could meet Armin and become close to him? Were they always meant to be part of each other’s lives like this? Her boyfriend’s philosophical words bounced around in her mind, making her ponder if what he said about the stars aligning just right could be true.

“Do you…” Armin spoke up suddenly, interrupting the trance Annie had put herself into. “Nevermind, it's stupid” he dismissed.

“No go on, what is it?” the former warrior beckoned.

“Well, I was just wondering… If we were born in a hypothetical different timeline, one where we didn’t have to worry about Titans or this war and we could’ve lived out our lives as normal teenagers… Do you think we would have still ended up together? Or even met at all?”

The young blonde woman went silent for several tense minutes. Would they? Would their circumstances still have allowed them to even know that the other existed? Would they have stayed separated, or were their fates interwoven together so tightly that they could never escape each other no matter what universe they were in? She thought long and hard about everything she and Armin had been through together, and realized that if he wasn’t a part of her life in some way then she would always feel like there was a certain piece of herself missing somewhere that she couldn’t ever pinpoint. It was, afterall, how she felt until she met him in _this_ timeline.

Ultimately, Annie knew in her heart what her answer was. “Yes. I do think we’d still be together, even if our situation was different,” she told him truthfully. Armin released a sigh he didn’t notice he’d been holding in and held the beautiful girl in his arms closer.

This was when Armin knew for sure he and Annie were always meant to be. He promised to himself that if he lived through this whole ordeal he was never going to let her go again. Looking after her and spending the rest of his days with her would be the only thing he needed. “I’m so glad you think so, because I do too. I… I think you’re my soulmate.”

Annie froze. It was almost incomprehensible for her to process the fact he’d just said that to her. After denying herself something like this for so long, she felt like none of this could be real. She almost never allowed herself to dream of such frivolous things, but the few times she did, it had usually involved hearing something like this come from the feeble but fiery Shiganshina boy.

Armin displayed a sheepish grin and scratched the side of his head as he said, "Sorry if that sounded cheesy, it's just what was on my mind." The high from his little venture just now was clearly still having an effect on his thoughts and feelings.

The lovestruck woman wrapped her arms around Armin’s middle tighter and replied in a barely audible whisper, “No, it's okay. I... I think you’re mine too.”

The Survey soldier could feel tears pricking his eyes, he was so overjoyed that she agreed. He quickly wiped them away with his free hand before bringing it back down to stroke his lover’s soft cheek. “Annie?” said the blond young man after a few moments of blissful silence.

“Hm?”

“If we survive after all this is over, if we manage to defeat Eren and win the war so we won’t have to worry about Titans or fighting anymore… Would you want to run away with me?”

Said woman paused for a second. “Where would we go?”

“I don’t know. The countryside, the ocean, the mountains, the forest, some other small town maybe, anywhere! It can be entirely your choice. As long as I’m with you I don’t care where we end up,” he told her with so much passion that Annie could’ve sworn he started to glow.

She tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear and looked away shyly. “Armin, that sounds way too idealistic. Even if we were able to leave we wouldn’t be able to spend very much time together. I only have two years left at most before the curse takes me away and I’d have to leave you. Forever. And this time you’ll have to visit a grave that won’t even be able to hear you when you talk to it,” she told him in a voice that was growing thick with emotion. “You’d be alone…”

Armin didn’t answer for a second. He simply looked out the window to see the stars twinkling in the inky black sky. What Annie had said was true, but he refused to let the truth of her words ruin his plans. “Then that’s all the more reason why we should try and spend as much valuable time together as we can. Make the most of what we have left,” he answered, trying as hard as he could to hide the disappointment laced into his reply.

There he was again with that ever-prevalent optimism of his. The shining light that countered her dim pessimism and helped her see the good in things that she often overlooked. It was just another addition to the ever-growing list of traits she appreciated about him, and helped remind her how she needed him in her life just as much as he needed her. She could be there to bring Armin’s head back to ground-level whenever it got too high in the clouds and he needed to be realistic. But, the typically negative girl had to admit that he was right about this. 

If they were going to be together then she wanted to be alone with him as much as possible, not just because they could have as much sex as they wanted but because she simply enjoyed his company to that degree. She wanted him to be the last thing she ever saw and for him to value every waking and resting moment they spent together until the curse cut his life short too.

It wasn’t fair that Annie had to share her fate with Armin eventually as well. She had accepted long ago that this was her fate and honestly, before she’d met this blond Eldian boy Annie had almost looked forward to finally passing on and being rid of her troubles. But now he was here in her life and it made everything so much more complicated. He didn’t deserve to die so young when he still had so much he could offer the world to make it a better place for everyone. The only thing she could be grateful for was that she would be the one to pass first so she didn’t have to witness him leaving this realm before her. The blonde fighter didn’t think she would be able to handle it. The thought of a world without Armin Arlert in it was not one she wanted to live in or even think about.

A small hand raised to caress Armin’s cheek tenderly as an answer finally left Annie’s mouth before she could even think about what she was saying. “I’d love to live somewhere with you for the rest of my life if we make it through this, Armin.” She sealed her promise with a gentle kiss against his lips and he returned it, molding their mouths together once more to a rhythm only the two of them could feel. Blue eyes stared into each other deeply and lovingly once lips parted, and a smile graced both their faces as their foreheads connected.

Eventually a yawn escaped Armin’s diaphragm and Annie felt her eyes get heavy as well. It was getting extremely late, they should’ve been asleep a long time ago. The Marleyan warrior reluctantly pulled herself away from her lover’s warm embrace and bent over to collect her nightgown that had fallen onto the floor during their little excursion. She fully expected to just get dressed and head back to her own room to maybe get some decent sleep for once. However, before she could even touch the nightwear she felt a tight grasp on her wrist. 

“Wait!” a desperate masculine cry resounded in the bunker. Annie spun her head around quickly to see Armin looking at her with pleading eyes. “Don’t go, you don't have to leave. Stay here with me tonight, please,” he begged her.

Annie looked at him with a slight blush adorned on her cheeks. Stay here? As in… _sleep_ with him? God what was she getting so flustered for? She’d literally just fucked him a few minutes ago, how could she possibly be getting nervous about comparatively mild intimacy such as this?

“Erm… won’t you get in trouble from your superiors if you’re caught with a girl in your room, Arlert?” she stammered.

A bemused look crossed said Scout’s face. “Maybe, but what are they gonna do? They know they need me to come up with their plans so they can’t exactly punish me very harshly. Not to mention we’re both adults now so there’s technically nothing against the rules about this. You really think Hange and Levi haven’t ever done anything when they’re constantly sharing a room together and have so much sexual tension between them?”

A snort of humor and disgust left Annie’s nostrils at that statement. She did _not_ want to think about the, unfortunately, high possibility of those two going at it like wild animals in heat. “Thanks for putting that thought in my head, you creep,” she scorned as she playfully slapped his shoulder and tucked herself back under Armin’s covers.

“You’re welcome,” he teased as he held her naked form closely against his own. Their legs intertwined and their arms wrapped around each others’ middles comfortably. It was a rather chilly night on the open sea but the warmth of their bare bodies melding together kept both shifters cozy to the point where neither even noticed the frigid ocean air. Their lips connected one last time that night before Annie rested her head underneath Armin’s chin and closed her eyes. The blond young man’s orb’s shortly followed suit, the rocking of the ship slowly drifting him off to slumber. “Goodnight, Annie,” he whispered to his twin flame as sleep started to take hold of his exhausted figure. It had been a long and eventful day to say the least but if this was how it ended, then he was more than grateful it had happened.

Just as he had completely shut his eyes, Armin could’ve sworn he heard Annie mumble “I love you too,” into his chest right before her breathing turned into quiet snores. He might’ve just been half-dreaming it, but he would swear to his deathbed that it was what she said, and he was going to continue believing so until then. The last thought that crossed Armin’s mind as he passed out was how, if he had the choice, he would never leave this bed with Annie cuddled up to him right now. Both blondes fell asleep with smiles on their faces as they subconsciously snuggled into each other closer throughout the night. For the first time in years, neither of the teen soldiers slept with any nightmares haunting their minds, only peaceful dreams sweeping them into pleasant visions of the future.

* * *

“Shit. _Shit_! Where the hell is he?” These words repeated in a frantic Connie Springer’s voice as he scurried all across the ship looking for a certain blond strategist that had been missing all morning. Armin had skipped breakfast and was even late to the meeting that Levi had specifically told everyone to be there for. Even when he was wrapped head to toe in bandages like an Egyptian mummy, the Captain was still pant-wettingly intimidating.

So when he angrily asked where Arlert was and no one knew the answer, not even Mikasa, nearly everyone was on the edge of their seats in apprehension. He looked even more tired and grumpy this morning than usual. It was also around this time that they had noticed Annie Leonhart was missing as well. With a dark look, the Captain of the Scouts volunteered the balding young man against his will to go search for the two Titan Shifters. Connie knew better than to argue so he begrudgingly took off to go look for them.

He decided to try and find Armin first since he was currently the more important person for this new mission. Connie had looked in every possible nook and cranny above deck that the shorter blond could have fit in but he couldn’t be found anywhere. He had to have been somewhere below deck. Great, there were like a million more places Armin could possibly be down there. Connie grumbled to himself as he trudged down the stairs to the bunkers.

After having searched through nearly every room and closet down below, panic was starting to settle into the young Scout's head. What if his friend had fallen overboard last night when no one was watching? Or worse, what if Annie had kidnapped him and then fled the scene? It wouldn't be the first time she snatched a Titan Shifter out from under their noses. A new sense of dread flooded Connie's mind as he began searching with even greater urgency. Eventually he came to the last few bunkers, and knew that if Armin wasn’t in one of these rooms then he wasn’t anywhere on this damn boat.

He knew Levi was probably getting more and more impatient with each passing minute, and Connie didn’t dare think about how the Captain would react if he returned to him empty handed. He swung open the doors to the first few bunkers and found them to be empty, unsurprisingly at this point. For whatever reason, the buzzcut Scout decided to be much more careful about the next room he approached. Maybe it was because he figured it’d be uninhabited anyway just like the previous bunkers, or maybe it was some other unearthly force telling him that he should be more discreet with this one. Who knows.

The heavy metal door was nudged open a few centimeters and Connie whispered loudly into the dark room, “Armin!” He exposed the entryway wide enough for his head to poke through and he peered around, squinting his eyes to see in the dimly lit space. The second he stuck his face into the bunker his nose scrunched up. A strong odor flooded his nostrils and he wasn’t quite sure what to think of the pungency. It almost smelled like… Nah, it couldn’t be. There’s no way. Armin could never.

The scatterbrained Scout decided to look into the room further. The first two corners he peered at revealed nothing, but as he looked around to the other side of the room, his hazel eyes widened. At first he only noticed the pile of discarded clothes on the ground, but as his orbits trailed upwards to the bed, he found not just Armin but also Annie lying there sound asleep with him. Both blondes were intertwined with each other and completely naked, only the bedsheets covering their bodies.

A tomato would’ve been jealous of how red Connie had turned in that moment. The Ragakoan boy wasn’t ever exactly known for his smarts, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out what had transpired between these two last night, the musky smell in the room alone was enough to give it away. With an expression mixed of shock and embarrassment on his face, he slowly removed his head from the bunker and quietly shut the door in order to give the couple their privacy, trying as hard as he could not to wake them up in the process.

He began marching in a ridiculously stiff manner away from the room as quickly and silently as he could. The gray-scalped Survey soldier’s mind was reeling over what he just saw. For a split second he wondered if it was just an illusion his head had conjured up. He couldn’t believe Armin had actually gone and done it. Since when did he and Annie have the hots for each other? How long have they been a thing? Had he really missed that after all the time he’d spent with his fellow Scout? Honestly he had to give Armin props, the typically self-conscious blond was the last person Connie had expected to get laid before anyone else from the 104th squad. He had to admit that he was proud of his little buddy. The shortest member of the Survey Corps from the 104th squad was truly a man now, Connie never should’ve doubted that the strategist had it in him. Wait, now the shorthaired teen was returning without the person he was tasked to retrieve. Shit! Should he have woken them up? Nah, not only would that have been super embarrassing, but they just looked so peaceful and relaxed together. The buzzcut soldier knew that Armin had been having trouble sleeping lately and he didn’t want to disrupt what might be the only decent rest the blond has gotten in possibly be years. But now what was he going to tell Captain Levi and the others? Oh geez…

All these thoughts raced through the distressed teen's head at once until he found himself back where everyone was meeting. “There you are, Connie. We were starting to get worried. Were you able to find Armin?” Jean Kirstein asked his friend. The balding teen didn’t respond at first, he seemed pretty out of it and a little pale in the face.

“Wuh, huh?” Connie sputtered back.

“You okay there, buddy? You look like you just saw a ghost. The bunkers aren’t haunted are they?” Jean teased lightheartedly. Though instead of laughing back as everyone expected from the usual jokester, Connie just continued to look dazed.

His mind flashed before his eyes the sight of Annie’s bare back facing him and he blanched further. Both hands rushed up to his head as he realized that the blonde fighter would absolutely kill him if she found out what he just saw. “Y-yeah, th-there m-might b-b-be,” Connie stammered as he started to shake uncontrollably. 

“Dammit we’re going to be arriving in Odiha soon, we need blondy now more than ever. Where the hell is he?” Levi practically shouted, this whole situation pushing his already low patience to a tipping point. He just wanted to get this over with so that they’d be prepared when they docked in a few hours. A consoling hand from Hange on his shoulder was finally able to get the man who was as short as his temper to calm down enough to where he simply muttered curses under his breath incoherently to himself.

The rest of the squad wasn’t entirely sure how the crazy Commander was able to influence the otherwise untouchable Captain of the Survey Corps like that, they were pretty sure it wasn't purely because of rank. Armin seemed to be the only one who had any idea what was going on but whenever he was asked about it he would just smirk and simply say, “Oh, he’s just whipped is all.” No one had any idea what he meant by that and honestly they were all too scared to ask further.

Mikasa strode over to Connie and gripped his wrist firmly, concern and sternness etched into her face. She was in Mama Bear mode now. “Connie, calm down. Where’s Armin? Did you find him?”

Her smooth but intimidating voice finally seemed to get through to the balding Scout as he snapped out of whatever trance he had been in. However, he still looked away when he started speaking. “Y-yeah, I found him,” he answered as he started ringing his fingers together nervously. " _I found him alright, more of him than I’d ever hoped to,_ " he thought to himself.

“Well, where is he?” Jean inquired.

Shit, what should he say? Should he just throw Armin and therefore Annie under the carriage and tell everyone the truth? No, that doesn’t sound like a good idea. He didn’t want to either ruin Armin’s moment nor piss off Annie. He had to come up with something quick.

“Erm, he’s... sick! Yeah, got some sort of stomach bug from dinner last night and Annie volunteered to help take care of him,” he lied on the spot. Sweat started to drip down Connie's face as everyone narrowed their eyes at him.

Eventually Mikasa’s dark orbits softened and she let go of her comrade’s wrist, seemingly buying his little fib. “Well that’s too bad. I hope he feels better before we reach land,” she said as she elegantly strode back to where she’d previously resided. Connie exhaled in relief, glad everyone’s attention was finally directed away from him.

Levi groaned vocally. “Great, now we don’t have a single lick of an idea on how to stop Jaeger when we arrive for supplies,” he griped in a gruff voice as he raised his hands up in emphasis.

Hange was again there to spare everyone else from their Captain’s tirade. “It’ll be okay, Shorty,” she both teased and soothed him. “If Arlert’s not awake by the time we arrive, we’ll just go check on him and make sure he’s coherent enough to help us out. And if he’s not, I’m sure there’s enough brain power between everyone here to come up with some sort of plan.”

Levi tsked. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, Foureyes,” he waved off dismissively, though Hange seemed to only smile brightly in response. They truly were an odd pair to say the least, but the Corps unanimously agreed to themselves that the two of them were good for each other. 

However, Connie grimaced at the suggestion of going to check on Armin when they arrived. Not only would the blond get in trouble for oversleeping and _sleeping with_ Annie but so would the Scout sent to get him for lying about it. He internally prayed that his friend and new lover would wake up soon. 

Shortly afterwards, everyone was called off from the meeting and instructed to go help the crew around the ship in any way they could. Levi demanded that he’d be able to see his reflection on the deck by the time they arrived in Odiha or he’d whoop everyone’s asses even with a few of his fingers missing.

As Connie got the mop and bucket out of the supply closet, he peered down into the staircase that led to the bunkers where Armin and Annie were currently still sleeping together. The balding boy smirked to himself and shook his head. “You owe me big time for this, Armin,” he stated quietly to himself as he started scrubbing the hardwood floor. Meanwhile the bright yellow sun began to fully ascend over the deep blue ocean. It was the start of a new day, and with Eren’s Rumbling marching ever closer, everyone aboard the boat hoped that it wouldn’t be anybody’s last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's where I'm going to leave off. So sorry that this took so much longer to update than the last chapter, everyone. As you can see it was a very long portion for me to write and it turns out that writing sex scenes as I envision them is a lot more difficult than I'd initially thought. But I definitely still enjoyed doing so and I think my efforts paid off, personally. But please, let me know what you thought and either how well you think I did or where I could have done better, I love hearing from you guys. Hope you all enjoyed this, and I'll see you all in the next story!


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